Discussions on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) Directive begin in earnest

Our key takeaway: Everyone is talking about ‘CSDD.’ What is this new directive that would require companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence, and what will it ultimately look like? Discussions are starting at every level of the text. Will the companies covered (and the companies not covered) enable the creation of a level playing field? Will the companies to be included in the due diligence (established business relationships) miss the most significant impacts and incentivise companies not to create long-lasting relationships? Will the due diligence provided for incentivize a contractual and audit-focused approach, to the detriment of leverage-building which actually tackles the impacts? Will stakeholders at the heart of this law be a part of due diligence, and be able to access effective remedy if they are impacted? And the list of questions goes on.  

Here are just a few of the commentaries published in the last week on the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, and you can watch the European Parliament’s Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct’s webinar on the topic here:

• Shift, The EU Commission’s Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, https://shiftproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Shift_Analysis_EU_CSDDProposal_vMarch01.pdf
• European Coalition for Corporate Justice, Dangerous gaps undermine EU Commission’s new legislation on sustainable supply chains, https://corporatejustice.org/news/dangerous-gaps-undermine-eu-commissions-new-legislation-on-sustainable-supply-chains/
• European Trade Union Confederation, Commission delivers “bare minimum” on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/commission-delivers-bare-minimum-corporate-sustainability-due-diligence
• Frank Bold, EU Commission’s new rules on sustainable value chains risk creating a tick-the-box exercise, https://en.frankbold.org/news/eu-commission-s-new-rules-sustainable-value-chains-risk-creating-a-tick-box-exercise
• Friends of the Earth Europe, Due diligence law leaves affected people in the lurch, https://friendsoftheearth.eu/press-release/due-diligence-law-leaves-affected-people-in-the-lurch/
• Human Rights Watch, EU: Disappointing Draft on Corporate Due Diligence: Lawmakers Should Fix Loopholes, Adopt Pathbreaking Legislation, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/02/28/eu-disappointing-draft-corporate-due-diligence
• Investor Alliance for Human Rights, Investor Alliance for Human Rights Responds to EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, https://investorsforhumanrights.org/news/investor-alliance-human-rights-responds-eu-directive-corporate-sustainability-due-diligence
• Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, EU Proposal on Corporate Due Diligence a Welcome Step Forward but Forgets Human Rights Defenders, https://srdefenders.org/information/eu-proposal-on-corporate-due-diligence-a-welcome-step-forward-but-forgets-human-rights-defenders-says-un-special-rapporteur/
• ShareAction, EU presents watered-down rules on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, https://shareaction.org/news/eu-presents-watered-down-rules-on-corporate-sustainability-due-diligence

Steve Gibbons, Ergon Associates, Some initial thoughts on the proposed EU Due Diligence Directive, https://www.cambridge.org/core/blog/2022/02/25/some-initial-thoughts-on-the-proposed-eu-due-diligence-directive/