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Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
Last February, the European Commission published its proposal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). On December 1st, the European Council adopted its general approach on the CSDDD, constituting the Council’s starting position in negotiations of the CSDDD with the European Parliament.
On 23 May 2002, the feedback period closed for the proposal (hereinafter: the Proposed Directive) of an EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD), which was published late February 2022. The Proposed Directive of the European Commission (hereinafter: the Commission) introduces, among other things, a human rights and environmental due diligence obligation for certain companies and a civil liability for failing to exercise due diligence. The Proposed Directive can be considered as an important development in efforts made by the European Union (hereinafter: the EU) to achieve a climate-neutral and green economy. In this article we further discuss the Proposed Directive.
Background and aim
The Proposed Directive is part of the European ‘Green Deal’, a series of policy initiatives by the Von der Leyen Commission with the overarching aim to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. One aspect of the Green Deal is the further integration of sustainability into the corporate governance framework (in other words: into the way companies are managed and supervised). This is why the Commission launched a consultation on its ‘Sustainable Corporate Governance’ initiative, from 26 October 2020 to 8 February 2021. One of the aims of this initiative is to improve the EU regulatory framework on company law and corporate governance. The Proposed Directive is partly the result of that consultation.
The aim of the Proposed Directive is to ensure that companies operating in the internal market contribute to sustainable development and the sustainability transition of economies and societies through the identification, prevention and mitigation, bringing to an end and minimisation of potential or actual adverse effects on human rights and the environment resulting from companies’ own operations, their subsidiaries and their value chains.
Read our findings in the full article.
December 2022: European Council adopts its general approach on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
On December 1st, the Council adopted its general approach on the CSDDD, constituting the Council’s starting position in negotiations of the CSDDD with the European Parliament. The General Approach contains a few key deviations which may significantly impact the final text of the CSDDD.
Read our findings on these key deviations in the PDF on the right or click here.
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