Day three, Panel V: Divergent opinion regarding the extent of state responsibility: States want less than experts and civil society recommend
On 08.07.2015, the third day of the open-ended intergovernmental working group for the elaboration of an International Legally Binding Instrument on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with respect to human rights began with the launch of the fifth panel *Obligations of States to guarantee the Respect of Human Rights by TNCs and other business enterprises, including extraterritorial obligations.* Despite the absence of the European Union from the morning session, states are in a positive frame of mind and hope to find a compromise which is supported by all...To conclude, despite some differences, the overall atmosphere remains positive. This opinion is shared by Dominic Renfrey from the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net): “With this session we’re finally seeing how positive debate, despite differences, can lead to a genial environment for ongoing negotiations. One bright spot from this panel was the acceptance by states present of extraterritorial obligations – at least in broad terms...In general, one area we might also continue to see more robust exchanges in these negotiations would be to have even more inputs from states from all regions...