The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability urges France to support the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) during the upcoming European Council vote. The CSDDD, a historic law proposal, would help protect millions of people around the world from corporate abuse.
If it passes, the CSDDD would require companies based in the E.U., or that do sufficient business there, to develop and implement human rights and environmental due diligence plans to prevent abuse in their global supply chains.
The Directive has received remarkable levels of support from governments, trade unions, civil society and individual citizens, as well as from large, medium and small businesses, notes the European Coalition for Corporate Justice.
The E.U.’s vote on the CSDDD had been scheduled for last week, but was reportedly postponed in part because France demanded last-minute changes that would drastically reduce the number of companies falling within the Directive’s scope.
E.U. parliamentary proponents of the Directive claim that pressure from business lobbies on key governments is derailing years of CSDDD negotiations.
The CSDDD has a last chance of success in another vote at the European Council two weeks from now. If it passes, countries in the E.U. would then have two years to transpose the Directive into national legislation.
The CNCA calls on France and all E.U. countries to voice their support for the CSDDD during the upcoming vote. In doing so, they will be taking a major step towards protecting human rights and the environment worldwide.
