§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he has proposals to make to the Council of Ministers at the Council of Europe to require multinational corporations to fulfil more stringent social obligations in the Social Charter of the Council of Europe and that they respect human rights in all countries in which they operate.
Mr. Alan Williams, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st April 1977; [Vol. 930, c. 155], gave the following information:
No. The Social Charter of the Council of Europe is concerned with the rights of all employees, not solely with the employees of multinational corporations, and is limited in its territorial application. It is Her Majesty's Government's policy to encourage all companies, including multinational corporations, to fulfil their 350W social obligations and responsibilities and to respect human rights in those countries in which they operate. To this end the United Kingdom is playing an active part in the discussions on employment and social aspects of multinational corporations currently taking place in other fora, notably the International Labour Organisation and the UN Commission on Transnational Corporations.