The European Parliament recently approved the EU Corporate Responsibility Directive, which requires companies to comply with the duty of care in their value chains. The rules aim to address issues such as child labor, labor exploitation, biodiversity conservation, pollution, and destruction of natural heritage. The directive was approved with 374 votes in favor, 235 against, and 19 abstentions.
Green MEP Heidi Hautala, who has been working on the directive for a long time, predicted that the approval would be celebrated well. She is featured in a documentary along with Lara Wolters and Manon Aubryn, which tells the story of the directive’s creation.
The duty of care applies to companies with at least one thousand employees and a turnover of at least EUR 450 million. Finland was part of the front that influenced the content of the directive, particularly objecting to the clause on introducing a class action. Despite some challenges, the directive passed with the representative action still included.
Belgium, holding the EU presidency, was instrumental in forming the necessary majority of member states behind the directive after numerous attempts. The directive originally targeted smaller companies, but Belgium’s proposal removed risky sectors from the scope of the directive.
The Council of Member States still needs to give the directive its final approval before it can take effect. While there were obstacles and disagreements along the way, the core legislation of the Corporate Responsibility Directive has remained unchanged.