Tomorrow on Wednesday, 13th December, the European Union’s co-legislators will have the unique opportunity to demonstrate their unequivocal stance for responsible business conduct by adopting the long-awaited EU Directive expected to set a level playing field for ambitious environmental, human and worker rights’ due diligence.

Despite a four year long legislative process, a great wealth of research evidence buttressing the urgent need for legal rules on mandatory due diligence and a massive call from society to secure companies and their suppliers’ operations respect people and the planet, conservative views remain active fighting against an ambitious EU law.

In a joint call, industriAll Europe, together with a large coalition of trade unions, civil society organisations, businesses, industry associations, and a wide variety of stakeholder groups urge for the necessity of a common EU wide legal framework on Due Diligence which: 

  • Follows a risk-based approach and builds on existing globally recognised (UN, OECD and ILO) due diligence standards. The climate transition plans foreseen in the EU Directive on sustainability reporting must also be integrated. 
  • Secures clear rules for stakeholder engagement and recognises the specific role that trade unions and worker representatives, as unique rightsholders, must play at all stages of the due diligence process. 
  • Ensures an EU-wide level playing field and avoids market fragmentation, especially regarding enforcement mechanisms as well as rules on civil liability and access to justice for the victims.

“We urge EU policymakers to reach a political agreement tomorrow and adopt the final version of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The basic respect of environmental standards, human, worker and trade union rights along the supply chain of multinational companies operating in the EU Single market is a no brainer. Companies cannot decide themselves whether or not to do it. They have a responsibility towards society and must be held accountable for any adverse impact”, 

Says Judith Kirton-Darling, Acting Joint General Secretary of industriAll Europe.

“There is no more time to waste. People and planet over profits!”.


See The joint coalition call “Delivering an EU-wide standard on responsible business”