A vote for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) would hold businesses accountable for the impacts of their operations on the people and the environment in order to support sustainable business operations. It will provide for fairer competition for all businesses, putting people and the planet before profit reached on bad business operations.
The initiative will provide a sound basis for responsible and sustainable business conduct in Europe and in the world, in full respect of and transparency for the people they employ, the suppliers and subcontractors they rely on, and the consumers they sell their products and services to.
With this initiative, not only does the EU acknowledge that France and Germany made the right choice to adopt a Due Diligence law respectively in 2017 and 2021. The EU moves forward and is about to deliver for all businesses and citizens of Europe. In doing so, it does respond to the expectation of many Members States, already in the starting block to legislate at the national level, but willing to let the EU set fair rules for all first.
Why is this initiative crucial for all of us? The CSDD Directive is key for at least the following reasons.
One of the most compelling reasons for the need for such a Directive is to prevent and avoid tragedies like the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh. The collapse of this garment factory claimed over 1,100 lives. It was a dramatic reminder of the impacts of western corporations’ practices, using supply chains to lower labour costs to the extreme, while reaping profits. Similarly, the exploitation in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where child labour and hazardous working conditions are rampant, illustrates the dire need for robust due diligence processes. As the demand for cobalt, a key component in lithium-ion batteries, surges, the CSDD Directive will serve as a crucial tool in ensuring that such materials are sourced responsibly, respecting the rights and safety of workers, as innovation should deliver for all. In Europe, the CSDDD will help for example to stop deplorable labour exploitation in subcontracting and franchising operations in all the sectors of the economy.
The CSDD Directive emphasises the need for companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and be accountable? for any adverse human rights impacts in their operations and supply chains. This approach goes beyond mere compliance; it requires proactive engagement and continuous improvement in labour standards.
The CSDD Directive is forceful, because the future for our economy is only to be based on a sustainable business community, including small and medium enterprises and the supply chains, in the full respect of the workers working in the production, of consumers buying and using the products. The initiative is the key to improve the economy, productivity and to provide for sustainable growth, to improve and secure the quality of products and services, and will help fighting against social and environmental dumping, letter box company and human rights abuses along the supply chains.
The CSDD Directive is powerful, because the economic and social cohesion and peace in Europe will depend on how serious Member States are to deliver on sustainability. The unprecedentedmobilisations of citizens in Europe for a European directive on CSDD is a clear signal that people and their demands should be put in the center of political decision. CSDD resorts the guarantee that human rights are not tradeable, workers are not a commodity.
Finally, in a time of fake news, the arguments that the initiative would bring additional administrative or financial burdens for business simply does not reflect the reality on the ground, where sustainable business requests a fair competition base, for whom compliance with human rights and environmental rules is not a burden but a duty, in particular when people, workers and consumers are at risks because of business operations.
Compliance with financial (reporting) rules is a well-functioning system that allow access to (financial) support. Compliance with sustainability due diligence strategy (incl. reporting) follows the same logic: it is an investment in better and more sustainable business, investment in the people and in the planet.
What it is at stake with the vote in Council and EU parliament for the initiative is not only a moral and ethical imperative but also a strategic economic decision. By advocating for responsible business practices, Member States will bring trust back to the economic actors, with clear signal that workforce matters wherever the production takes place, creating more attraction for investors and stronger consumer trust.
Finally, the initiative is the result of a clear mandate to act and to act now! A compromise has been found in the so-called trialogue procedure between the European Commission initiating EU legislation, the EU Parliament representing European citizens and in particular workers and the EU Council representing Member States, trialogue that ended in December 2023 with all three institutions acknowledged the outcome.
In a nutshell, any posture of a blockade, abstention or vote against the EU CSDD Directive is unthinkable.
Each Member State must live up to its responsibility and give a positive and empowering perspective toward citizens, business and society as a whole.
Isabelle Schömann, Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC