Business and Human Rights in South East Europe

The field of business and human rights has attracted widespread attention during the last decades in academia and practice. Still, there has been relatively little attention to it by South East European states. Governments of the region lack a coherent engagement with the implications of corporate activities on human rights and the rule of law. This is demonstrated by the absence of National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights and specific regulations or policies on corporate accountability. At the same time, most countries in the region, ravaged by recent conflict and deep financial crises, compete to attract investment and trade, resulting in adopting lax laws in terms of social issues, environment, and labour. This paper aims to provide the first overview of developments and challenges related to business and human rights in Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.