Brussels, 28.07.2021

Dear Honourable Member,

I thank you and your co-signatories for your letter in relation to the upcoming legislative proposal on sustainable corporate governance.

Since the start of its mandate, the Commission has been working on such a legislative initiative, which, as you are aware, is included in the Commission Work Programme for 2021. I welcome the European Parliament’s reflections and work on this issue: the resolutions supporting legislation are important contributions to our work. In line with my commitment in the Political Guidelines to respond to European Parliament resolutions calling for legislation, the reply to President Sassoli on 8 June sent by Vice-President Šefčovič outlines the detailedfollow-up, which we intend to provide.

As you rightly point out, it is the task ofthe Commission to present a proposal with the right level of ambition, based on a solid assessment. I share your view that companies should have a responsibility to make their own contribution towards sustainable development goals with respect to the environment, climate change and the protection of human rights.

We are currently preparing the impact assessmentfor this legislative initiative, taking into account a large number ofreplies to the public consultation and numerous contributions from civil society, business associations, and other interested parties. These inputs are informing our analysis ofthe key issues ofproportionality and subsidiarity, as well as our choices in terms ofpolicy options, scope and enforcement mechanism, which will be carefully considered through the impact assessment, taking into account existing international standards...