abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

Diese Seite ist nicht auf Deutsch verfügbar und wird angezeigt auf English

Artikel

25 Apr 2023

Autor:
European Parliament

EU: Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee adopts position on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images

"Corporate sustainability: firms to tackle impact on human rights and environment", 25 April 2023

With 19 votes against 3 and 3 abstentions, MEPs on the Legal Affairs Committee adopted their position on so-called corporate sustainability due diligence. Firms would be obliged to identify, and where necessary prevent, end or mitigate the negative impact of their activities, including that of their business partners, on human rights and the environment. This includes child labour, slavery, labour exploitation, pollution, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

More firms to be liable for impact on human rights and environment

Companies would also be required to evaluate their value-chain partners when carrying out their “due diligence”, MEPs say. This should include not only suppliers, but also activities related to sale, distribution and transport. Adverse impact would have to be mitigated and remedied by adapting the company’s business model, providing support to SMEs or seeking contractual assurances.

MEPs extended the application of the new rules, compared to the Commission proposal, to include EU-based companies with more than 250 employees and a worldwide turnover higher than 40 million euro, as well as parent companies over 500 employees and a worldwide turnover higher than 150 million euro. The rules would also apply to non-EU companies with a turnover higher than 150 million euro if at least 40 million was generated in the EU.

Supervision, sanctions and detailed guidelines

Non-compliant companies should be liable for damages and EU governments would establish supervisory authorities with the power to impose sanctions. MEPs want fines to be at least 5% of the net worldwide turnover and to ban non-compliant third-country companies from public procurement.

To facilitate compliance, member states would set up a national helpdesk and the Commission would prepare detailed guidelines.

Communication and fighting climate change

According to the adopted text, companies would have to engage with people affected by their actions, including human rights defenders and environmental activists, introduce a grievance mechanism and monitor the effectiveness of their due diligence policy.

To help combat climate change, all company directors would be obliged to implement a transition plan compatible with a global warming limit of 1.5°C. Directors of companies with over 1000 employees will be directly responsible for this step, which in turn will affect the variable parts of their pay, such as bonuses. [...]

Next steps

Once the Parliament adopts its mandate in the plenary, the negotiations with the Council on the final text of the legislation can start. According to the committee’s proposal, the new obligations would apply after 3 or 4 years depending on the company’s size and turnover.

Zeitleiste

Informationen zum Datenschutz

Diese Website verwendet Cookies und andere Web-Speichertechnologien. Sie können Ihre Datenschutzeinstellungen unten festlegen. Die Änderungen werden sofort wirksam.

Weitere Informationen über unsere Nutzung von Webspeicherung finden Sie in unserer Richtlinie zur Datennutzung und Cookies

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

Analytics-Cookie

ON
OFF

When you access our website we use Google Analytics to collect information on your visit. Accepting this cookie will allow us to understand more details about your journey, and improve how we surface information. All analytics information is anonymous and we do not use it to identify you. Google provides a Google Analytics opt-out add on for all popular browsers.

Promotional cookies

ON
OFF

We share news and updates on business and human rights through third party platforms, including social media and search engines. These cookies help us to understand the performance of these promotions.

Ihre Privatsphäre-Einstellungen für diese Website

Diese Website verwendet Cookies und andere Web-Speichertechnologien, um Ihre Erfahrung über die notwendigen Kernfunktionen hinaus zu verbessern.