What is the Catalan Center for Business and Human Rights that has been stuck in Parliament for years?

BarcelonaFive years ago, a bill for the creation of a Catalan Center for Business and Human Rights was introduced in the Catalan Parliament. The bill, promoted by Lafede and the Catalan Roundtable for Peace and Human Rights in Colombia, proposed creating, through a decree law, a body to ensure compliance with the 2014 foreign action law, which requires that all activity and money leaving Catalonia guarantee human rights. Although it began to be discussed in 2015 and was first brought to Parliament in 2020, the continuous changes in parliament have delayed the bill, which has now been admitted for processing for the third time—the second time in 2021—with the votes in favor of the PSC, Comuns, ERC, Junts, and the CUP. The proponents' goal is "for it to be approved before the end of the year."

Last week, Susanna Segovia, a member of the Catalan Parliament (Comuns), was appointed as rapporteur, and next week new appearances will be made in Parliament. However, the project raises some reluctance among the business community and some political groups, as well as the lack of awareness of some of the institutions interviewed for this article, despite having a voice in the parliamentary debate. Let's get down to business: what is the Catalan Center for Business and Human Rights?

Dani Gómez-Olivé, head of political and institutional advocacy at Lafede, explains that the goal is to create a "body that ensures good practices" among companies both in Catalonia and in other territories where they operate. According to the text, the center should be a "public and independent" body, and its functions include receiving and reviewing complaints from communities affected by companies operating in Catalonia—regardless of where they are headquartered. Thus, if this center issued a report validating any type of human rights violation, the company in question could not "operate further in Catalan territory until the violations committed have been remedied."

"An example of what we aim for is what happened with Alstom. This German company is on a UN blacklist for collaborating with the genocide in Gaza, and Barcelona City Council decided that Alstom could not enter the public tender," says Gómez-Olivé. "That is what we want to do with the Center," he points out. "Catalonia would become a pioneer in the defense of human rights internationally, and would place itself ahead of the United Nations in the control of transnational corporations," he adds.

Although the proposal seems generally positive, it has also raised some questions regarding its impact on the Catalan business community. Some employers' associations have pointed out key points of the regulation, as they believe it "puts Catalan companies, especially SMEs, at risk." Meanwhile, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Foment del Treball have declined to participate in this article, citing "lack of knowledge" of the proposal. Both institutions are summoned in the new round of appearances before Parliament.

Key Points

The Cecot employers' association has been particularly belligerent, asserting that "this is a regulation that could affect the international activity of thousands of companies, often integrated into complex global networks." Pimec "doesn't see this clearly," but declined to comment further.

"Many SMEs may be integrated into international value chains without having detailed knowledge of the source or destination companies with which they end up linked. This could expose them to liability for circumstances beyond their control," says Oriol Alba, secretary general of the Cecot employers' association. He also highlights concern that this center could imply "more bureaucracy" for companies, and claims that "SMEs need guidance, support, and spaces for business excellence that help them adapt to the demands, and not just a sanctioning regime." For its part, Lafede counters that "it would not create more bureaucracy, only if they are reported in a justified manner."

From the UGT union, Cati Llibre explains to ARA that they value the proposal very positively, but ask that it not remain "just a center for training and promotion of human rights, but also include oversight and sanctions." She also believes that the majority unions should be part of the governing board.

Governance and SMEs

The governance of this center—still to be fully defined—is not popular with the business community. The text considers it should be a "public and independent" body, so its proponents argue that business members should not be part of the governing board, which irritates employers' associations. Furthermore, it is not planned to distinguish by company size. From the Junts parliamentary group, despite voting in favor, Joan Canadell explained it this way in ARA: "Although we agree with the idea, this is a law that affects all SMEs, and we cannot treat small and large businesses equally. It should not be a law that punishes SMEs and increases bureaucracy."

Thus, those most reluctant to support it suggest that the center could discourage companies from establishing themselves in Catalonia and preferring to operate elsewhere in Spain. "If a company leaves Catalonia for this reason, it has a problem," counters Susanna Segovia of Comuns (Communs). "It's about having a tool to investigate and apply the law," she points out.

"We're not going against the company itself, but rather against the acts and actions we've detected," argues Gómez-Olivé. Regarding powers, Lafede explains that "we have to start somewhere" and that, to begin with, "a blacklist" could be created. "We can't impose sanctions based on the impact because Catalonia doesn't have the powers to do so, but we can impose sanctions if the company doesn't cooperate in the process," notes Gómez-Olivé. However, this point "has not yet been defined or discussed."

However, Gómez-Olivé concludes: "SMEs should not be afraid; on the contrary, it will probably help them open up markets because it is likely that the larger ones will be the most affected and, therefore, will have less competition."