EU: Business coalition calls due diligence directive "historic opportunity" and urges governments to support directive
"CSDDD: Undermining the compromise would be a strategic mistake for the European economy and would create legal uncertainty"
Gathered within the Business for a Better Tomorrow coalition, we, large, medium-sized, and small businesses, call on EU governments not to withdraw their support for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) during the final approval process scheduled for 9 th February 2024.
The requirements of the CSDDD are appropriate, feasible, and desirable. They are based on United Nations and OECD standards, thus relying on common-sense guidelines that responsible companies have been following for years.
The CSDDD is not a threat to European businesses but a historic opportunity to build a fair economic framework for all, and to end the competitive advantages of companies that act to the detriment of human rights and the environment, which currently jeopardize the viability of responsible European businesses.
We are therefore deeply concerned that several Member States are currently considering to abstain or vote against the compromise text.
We are at the end of a four-year democratic legislative process, during which the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders have been taken into account, and compromises have been reached. We expect members of the EU Council to honor this democratically achieved compromise and thus provide companies with legal certainty and, above all, fair competitive conditions, a demand widely supported in recent times that will strengthen the European market and accelerate its sustainable development.