More than a century ago, the proliferation of damage caused by machinery and the increase in industrial accidents for which no one took responsibility triggered a major legal revolution in Europe.
The adoption of the European directive on corporate due diligence (known as “CS3D”) [which holds companies accountable in court so that they prevent and remedy human rights violations and serious environmental damage caused by their subsidiaries, suppliers, and subcontractors], in May 2024, is part of the continuation of this immense struggle for workers’ rights.
The objective of due diligence is simple: to prevent multinational companies from continuing to destroy the environment, violate human rights, or exploit children or slaves by hiding behind their subsidiaries or foreign suppliers. But a year and a half after its adoption, the due diligence directive is hanging by a thread. How did we get here?
Political Agenda
The European right never truly accepted the legal revolution that due diligence represents, and the offensive began when the European Commission started the review process.
Under the guise of “simplifying” European regulations, “Omnibus I” could ultimately lead to the outright dismantling of due diligence and see the conservative will to roll back the main environmental, social, and human rights advances voted on in Europe in recent years triumph.
Radicalized in Parliament by the new political majority resulting from the 2024 European elections, the transformed “Omnibus” directive reflects both the weakness of European institutions in the face of assaults by industrial lobbies and a gradual alignment of Europe with the international political agenda.