The Crystal Prize (De Kristalprijs) Regulations 2022

1. Organisations from the permanent research group of the Transparency Benchmark are most welcome to participate in the nomination round.

2. Other organisations that fall under the upcoming European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are also very welcome to participate in the nomination round. 

3. The nomination must be based on publicly available, periodic accounting information for (reporting year) 2020 and 2021 – published before June 30, 2022.

4. Natural persons can also submit a nomination for an organisation.

5. You can submit the nomination(s) from 15 June 2022. The closing date for entry is Sunday, July 31, 2022 at 11:59 PM. Incomplete entries and entries received after this time will not be taken into account.

6. Organisations whose employees are in any way directly or indirectly involved in the assessment of the Crystal Prize 2022, are not allowed to participate.

7. By submitting the entry, the organisation or natural person participating in the nomination round agrees to the provisions of these regulations.
Initiators and organisers 

8. The Crystal Prize 2022 is an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) and is implemented by the Ministry in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Netherlands Professional Organisation of Accountants (NBA).

The Crystal Prize 2022

9. It is a nomination for which a commendable achievement in the field of transparency in sustainability reporting must be delivered. Participation takes place by submitting a nomination that indicates efforts within the organisation in the field of a specific theme within the sustainability reporting. In 2022, the theme is 'Transparency about the impact of and on human rights in the light of global challenges'.

10. Central questions for the 2022 theme are: does the organisation pay sufficient attention to the effect of its activities on the protection and respecting of human rights? How far does the organisation's responsibility for its direct as well as indirect impact extend - that is, also further away in the value chain, further in geographical distance (other countries) and further in time (impact on the living environment in the longer term). And to what extent is this communicated transparently?

11. With the submission, the organisation must share a link to the annual report or the website section where the information on human rights can be found.

12. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency collects the entries. After collection, EY Accountants and the Panel of Experts will:

• Determine whether the organisation meets the criteria of the participation protocol.
• Determine whether information about the integration of the theme within the organisation can be found in publicly available, periodic reporting information for the 2020 or 2021 financial year.
• Analyse the degree of transparency and verification if the information is included in an annual report ('assurance').

Assessment process

13. The Panel of Experts consists of the following persons (for individual backgrounds, consult the website):

• Ms. Teresa Fogelberg (chair)
• Mr. Giuseppe van der Helm (vice-chair)
• Mr. René Orij
• Ms. Charlotte Linnebank
• Mr.  Marhijn Visser
• Mr. Paul Hurks
• Mr. Jos Reinhoudt
• Mr. Gerhard Schuil
• Mr. Mart van Kuijk

14. The Jury consists of the following persons (for individual backgrounds, consult the website):

• Ms. Monika R. Milz (chair)
• Ms. Petri Hofsté
• Mr. Martin Hoogendoorn

15. The entries will be assessed with regards to the following criteria:

• Policy and governance: how does the organisation define human rights? Does the organisation define a policy that respects and protects human rights? Does the organisation indicate to what extent the policy is enforced administratively and organisationally?
• Due diligence: has the organisation implemented a human rights due diligence process? How does the organisation involve stakeholders in that process? To what extent does the organisation consider its own operations and value chain when practicing due diligence? How does the organisation perform the key steps of due diligence, including assessing human rights risks, addressing human rights impacts, tracking the effectiveness of mitigation measures, and communicating the ways in which the company addresses different types of human rights.
• Grievance mechanisms: does the organisation have procedures for receiving complaints about human rights violations and are these available to all stakeholders?
• Transparency and self-learning: to what extent has the information that the organisation has made publicly available, been verified by a third party? Does the organisaiton learn from mistakes?

16. EY Accountants and The Panel of Experts draw up a shortlist of a maximum of 10 nominated organisations. The Jury will select the winner from this shortlist on the basis of their technical expertise.

17. The presentation of the Crystal Prize 2022 will take place during the Crystal Event on Tuesday, November 29, 2022. The representatives of the organisations will be approached with the request to be present during the presentation. 

18. Through (social) media, attention is paid to the organisation that will receive the Crystal Prize 2022.

19. During the Crystal Event, special attention will also be paid to other outstanding examples of participating organisations on the theme of transparency and human rights, the so-called honorable mentions.
Final provisions

20. By participating in the Crystal Prize 2022, the participating organisation, or natural person who nominates an organisation, gives permission to the organisers of the Crystal Prize to reuse the submitted nomination without prior consultation and any compensation and to publish it on its website and other sites or media.

21. The participating organisation, or the natural person who nominated an organisation, gives permission for the processing of the personal data provided by him/her. 

22. The participating organisation, or the natural person who nominates an organisation, authorizes the organisers of the Crystal Prize to communicate about the nomination, the deliberations of the Panel of Experts and the Jury through media, including radio, television and the internet.

23. The organisers of the Crystal Prize 2022, the auxiliary persons or third parties engaged by the organisers cannot be held liable for any damage, direct and/or indirect, arising from or in any other way related to the Crystal Prize 2022.

24. The Crystal Prize 2022 initiator and executors reserve the right, in their sole discretion and without notice, to terminate, interrupt or change the Crystal Prize and/or change the nomination if circumstances require.

If you have any question or comments about the Crystal Prize 2022, you can send an email to: transparantiebenchmark@minezk.nl