BHR Professionals’ Call to Support the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

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As the EU Council gears up for a vote on the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive on 9 February 2024, a group of individuals involved in a variety of different ways, but many of them academics, have been circulating a letter, to which I have added my name, intended to be submitted to the Council. The letter urges support for the Directive. Whatever one thinks of the substantive value or the deficiencies of the current form of the CSDDD, it comports with the vision for administered economic activity through markets  that  now must incorporate public policy objectives--in this case touching on human rights and sustainability. That was the central point of EU President Ursula van der Leyen's remarks at Davos (The Transformative Consequences of Risk Spirals: "Special Address by President von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum 16 January 2024"). In a sense CSDDD puts that viability of vision to the test. 

Europe will have its system of administrative supervision of its markets and of the character of its economic activity, even as the conduct of that activity remains delegated to non-state organs and individuals. The meta characteristics of economic activity will no longer be left entirely to  the organization of aggregated capital but will be incorporated into the political life of liberal democracy; at the same time that shift will more deeply embed these aggregations of capital into the political conversations at the heart of political decision making. That, in turn moves European liberal democracy more closely to the sort of stakeholder model that has been suggested for the management of capital within its institutional organs. In this emerging world not just  institutionalized capital, but the autonomous mass organization of public officials will function as political actors (A Dialectics for Administrative Supervision and a Semiotics of Bureaucratic Populism).  CSDDD provides a critical step in the movement toward this form of European liberal democracy, one that appears to accord with the times and with the state of historical development of Europe in the current era. That, at any rate, is a plausible basis for moving forward the CSDDD project.

The text of the letter follows below.

BHR Professionals’ Call to Support the CSDDD 🌍

The EU Council’s impending vote on the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on February 9th demands stronger support now more than ever. The pressure on the German government to abstain during the EU Council vote is high.

This upcoming vote on the CSDDD is more than a legislative formality – it is a defining moment for our shared future. The CSDDD represents an unprecedented opportunity to shape a sustainable future for all.

Numerous companies and business associations in Europe and around the world have expressed their support for the CSDDD. This Directive is a much needed and powerful tool to harmonise the current fragmented practices and level the playing field for respecting human rights and the environment. It will provide the legal certainty that the companies are calling for and that is needed to identify, assess, prevent, mitigate, and remedy adverse human rights and environmental harms.

As business and human rights (BHR) practitioners, lawyers and academics committed to supporting and encouraging responsible business conduct, we call on the EU governments to recognise the pivotal importance of the CSDDD. The legislator has gone to great lengths to ensure that the directive is both ambitious and achievable. Through rules on prioritisation and a special treatment of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the legislation constructively addresses the specificities and legitimate expectations of SMEs and makes a stepwise transformation possible.

Our concern extends beyond national borders: together, we urge the EU governments to understand the significance of the moment and act collectively to secure the CSDDD in the vote on February 9th.

It is time for decisive action to ensure businesses contribute positively to our society and planet and align business and human rights for good.

This week’s vote can shape the future of generations to come. Let's make it count for the better. Support the CSDDD.Signatories