Making human rights due diligence a legal requirement for companies including systems to identify, assess, mitigate or manage human rights risks and impacts to improve that process over time and to disclose the risks and impacts, the steps taken and the results.
Direct Consultation with Governments
Comments from the entity submitted through official regulatory and legislative consultation processes, or via meetings and other direct engagements with policymakers. Includes evidence obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests.
The entity welcomes the proposal that establishes due diligence as a legal requirement, providing a harmonised framework.
The entity states that: 'The Policy Hub welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) Proposal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD). ... having a harmonized legislative framework on due diligence (DD) is critical. We support the EC’s attempt to level the playing field in the current Proposal by including non-EU businesses in the scope, and to provide companies with an obligation of means rather than results. ...'
Requiring Human rights due diligence of all companies, regardless of sector and size, while still reflecting their individual circumstances.
Direct Consultation with Governments
Comments from the entity submitted through official regulatory and legislative consultation processes, or via meetings and other direct engagements with policymakers. Includes evidence obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests.
The entity recommends to extend the scope of the Directive to cover SMEs.
It states that: 'As recognised in international standards, a due diligence process is relevant for all companies, regardless of the size and sector. From the scope defined in Art. 2, the Directive covers only a significantly limited part of companies operating in EU markets, casting doubts on the legislation’s effectiveness to create the intended level playing field and meaningful impact. We recommend the extension of the scope of the Directive to also cover small and medium-sized companies. With the right guidance and design allowing for the prioritization of risks and proportionality applied to SMEs, due diligence can be conducted by all.'
Enabling judicial enforcement with liability and compensation in case of harm caused by not fulfilling the due diligence obligations.
Direct Consultation with Governments
Comments from the entity submitted through official regulatory and legislative consultation processes, or via meetings and other direct engagements with policymakers. Includes evidence obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests.
The entity considers that companies should not be liable if they acted with due care in line with the DD regulation.
The entity states that: 'As foreseen in international standards, the responsibility of business enterprises to conduct due diligence should be distinct from issues of legal liability. We recommend separating the scope of due diligence requirements from the one where civil liability applies. Furthermore, companies shall not be held liable if they acted with due care in line with the due diligence obligations of means.'
Require companies to implement a due diligence process covering their value chain to identify, prevent, mitigate and remediate human rights impacts and improve that practice over time.
Direct Consultation with Governments
Comments from the entity submitted through official regulatory and legislative consultation processes, or via meetings and other direct engagements with policymakers. Includes evidence obtained by InfluenceMap through Freedom of Information requests.
The Entity considers that there's a lack of clear risk prioritisation and proportionality of actions, and considers that the broad concept of "value chain", contributes to that.
The entity states that: 'There is a lack of clear risk prioritization and proportionality of actions. International standards foresee that where business enterprises have large numbers of entities in their value chains, it may be unreasonably difficult to conduct DD for adverse impacts across them all. If so, business enterprises should identify general areas where the risk of adverse impacts is most significant and prioritize these for due diligence. This is a key point for a company’s due diligence activities and needs to be further strengthened in the CSDD. ... The lack of clear risk prioritisation is further reinforced by the broad concept of “value chain”, encompassing both upstream and downstream activities. Such a broad definition dilutes the focus on those activities and operations where risks have higher potential impact.'
| Legislation | Phase of Active Company Engagement | Position |
|---|
| Member | Performance band |
|---|---|
| Zalando SE | D- |
