Closing remarks at the International Organisation of Employers Human Rights Conference

Thank you for the opportunity to provide closing remarks on what a partnership with responsible business means for the European Union’s priorities, especially in the current dynamic and challenging global context.

I think we can agree that human rights are not only a moral commitment and a legal obligation for states. They are also a defining issue for the global economy: for investment decisions, for supply chains, for innovation, and for long-term stability. When human rights are weakened, the costs show up as conflict and instability, corruption, disrupted trade, reduced investment, damaged trust, and slower, less inclusive growth.

This is not new. It is already implied by the fact that human rights are embedded in the EU’s trade agreements with other countries and regions. And it means that we have a joint interest, between business and the EU, in the promotion and protection of human rights. 

I would like to consider business as a co-guarantor of human rights, alongside states, civil society and other stakeholders. Partnership among us is essential and we should work to strengthen it. 

Today, I would like to make three points;

• First: respect for human rights is a core ingredient of sustainable competitiveness and long-term economic prosperity.
• Second: the EU has both the duty and the leverage to support and accelerate business respect for human rights, and to promote the conditions in which this can happen.
• Third: as a co-guarantor of human rights, I want to count on business, and business organisations such as the IOE, to speak up for human rights wherever you operate.

Human rights and prosperity: the evidence is increasingly clear

There has been a long debate about whether human rights and economic competitiveness are in tension. Some have argued that protections of human rights are “costs”—that they slow growth, or add regulatory burdens.

Evidence points in a different direction: human rights protection—such as fundamental freedom and participation rights—are associated with stronger long-run economic performance. When people are safer, when institutions are more predictable, capital is more willing to commit for the long term. 

Studies by the World Bank has added an important dimension to this discussion: human rights improve not only the quantity of growth, but the quality and distribution of growth. Human rights bring attention to distribution outcomes, to non-discrimination, and to the need to put people—especially marginalised groups—at the centre of policy and practice. It is essential if growth is to translate into social cohesion rather than grievance, instability, and polarisation.

Growth can also occur in contexts where civil and political rights are restricted e.g. in some large countries in Asia, combining strong growth with limited freedoms. Rapid growth can be boosted through large-scale investment in infrastructure and education, state-led industrial policy, global integration, and demographic factors—but that comes with costs: inequalities, social tensions, and questions about long-term sustainability. Not all pathways produce resilient, equitable, and stable societies. 

Importantly, studies also do not find evidence of the reverse relationship: i.e. economic growth does not automatically deliver stronger human rights. This matters, because it means we cannot treat human rights as a “luxury” that follows development. Rights are part of what makes development resilient.

What does leadership look like in practice?

For the EU, leadership means reinforcing an ecosystem where responsible business is rewarded and ensuring a level playing field against irresponsible business.

• This includes:
  • supporting coherent and manageable rules and expectations towards businesses across supply chains, grounded in international standards, notably the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights; the recent Omnibus I simplifications of due diligence obligations further strengthened this approach;
  • partnering with stakeholders such as the International Organisation of Employers, other industry-led and multi-stakeholder initiatives, civil society and international organisations, to translate rules and principles into practice and support implementation at scale;
  • and investing in the enabling environment for human rights—because businesses do not operate outside society. Rule of law, civic space, labour inspections, anti-corruption efforts, all affect whether human rights can be respected in practice. 

As the EU Special Representative for Human Rights I lead several of the EUs dialogues with other countries and I regularly meet with representatives of governments and civil society to speak about these issues and we need more business voices in that space.

Why business voice matters: responsibility, influence, and speaking up for human rights

Many of you present here represent multinational companies, with supply chains stretching across jurisdictions with very different legal systems and enforcement capacities. While respecting local laws, your corporate decisions can affect wages, working hours, workplace safety, community rights, and even fundamental freedoms and civic space.

Business cannot- are clearly not expected to- replace the state’s duty to protect human rights. However, in practice business often have significant influence over whether these rights are upheld or undermined.

As co-guarantor of human rights, I count on you to speak up for human rights wherever you operate. 

Scale and joint action matters. Because no single company or foreign partner, including the EU, can solve systemic human rights challenges alone—whether forced labour risks, gender discrimination, conflict financing. But collective expectations, shared standards, credible accountability and advocacy combined by advocacy, and technical assistance can together promote change in practice.

Working together is especially critical in an era when human rights in many countries face ideological pushback and suffer from geopolitical uncertainty. 

Conclusion: giving a human face to the market

Human rights determine whether growth is inclusive, whether institutions are trusted, whether markets are stable, and whether prosperity is shared.

• The business case for sustainability is, at its core, a human rights case:
  • it enables investment and long-term value creation,
  • it strengthens supply chain resilience,
  • it supports social licence and legitimacy,
  • it builds human capital,
  • it drives innovation and competitiveness,
  • and it mitigates reputational, legal and regulatory risk.

And beyond all of this, there is a final point we should not forget: respect for human rights—is the right choice.

For the European Union, and for all of us committed to a rules-based international order and international law, the task now is to ensure that responsible business conduct becomes the norm, not the exception.

Because when business helps to uphold human rights, it does more than avoid harm. It helps create societies in which people can participate, speak freely, organise, work in dignity, and share in the benefits of economic life.

That is what sustainable prosperity looks like.