In March 2021, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution for a ‘legislative own-initiative report’ (INL), calling on the European Commission to table a proposal directive on corporate Due Diligence that would, in accordance with international standards, hold businesses accountable for their human rights and environmental impacts throughout their operations and value chains.

Such law could have significant implications for companies operating inside and outside the borders of the EU. The EP stressed that voluntary guidelines have proved insufficient to prevent corporate abuse and change business conduct. The European Commission is expected to table a proposal directive in 2022, after the publication of the same was delayed twice in 2021.

CIDSE and other like-minded NGOs have been actively advocating for such a law throughout the last couple of years. In a Press Kit created by the same coalition, we outline the main key points that should be included in the upcoming EU law, as well as a thorough analysis of its significance through case studies and testimonies. The document is available in English, French, German and Spanish.

The press kit presents civil society asks, in addition to other useful information. These include results from a YouGov poll showing that the overwhelming majority of EU citizens agree that companies should be held legally accountable for their environmental and human rights harm, information about the steps national governments are taking to regulate corporate impacts and business lobbies’ attempts to undermine or dilute the law. We hope this press kit will be useful to journalists seeking more information and a variety of resources in their coverage of the debates that are currently taking place around the future European Commission’s proposal, which is expected to be published in 2022.