CESI positively notes the European Parliament plenary’s endorsement of a text on a new directive on corporate sustainability due diligence – the so-called CSDD directive – on Wednesday this week, which had been negotiated previously with the Presidency of the Council.

The rules, which still need to be formally approved by the Council at ministerial level, foresees new obligatory rules for companies operating or selling in the EU to restrict environmental and human rights-related negative impacts along their supply, production and distribution chains, including in the area of labour rights. The rules are envisaged to apply to EU companies and parent companies with more than 1000 employees and a turnover of more than €450 million per year in the EU, as of 2029. Non-respect of rules would be sanctioned with fines up to 5% of their worldwide turnover.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “New rules on corporate sustainability due diligence can help increase awareness and avoid labour and social rights abuses in the production and distribution chain of multinational companies which manufacture and or sell products on the EU market. The notion that companies should care about their employees is at the very core of constructive and trust-based worker-employer relations. We hope that the Council will swiftly rubber-stamp the new CSDD directive.”

He added: “We should remain cautious however to not put disproportionate burden on companies to further human rights across the world. This remains above all a political tasks for politicial leaders in the EU and the Member States, which need to be clear in the communicaiton and action towards authoritarian regimes that allow lax human and labour rights in their countries.”