New EU Commission proposal turns supply chain law into empty shell

The EU Commission has just presented its plans for the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) as part of the omnibus legislation.

In response, Franziska Humbert, lawyer and Policy Advisor at Oxfam Germany, said:

"The removal of civil liability equates to a loss of hard-fought legal recourse for survivors, who would finally have been able to litigate for years of human rights violations. For instance, they could have taken companies to court over health damage caused by pesticide use on banana plantations.

"With the omnibus package, Commission President Von der Leyen is taking a chainsaw to environmental and human rights protections. The Directive is a milestone. Without binding due diligence obligations, companies will not take responsibility – something the disasters of recent years have made painfully clear: collapsing textile factories, dam failures in mining, and pesticide poisoning on banana plantations.

"A retreat from responsibility would be disastrous. The CSDDD is a response to decades of turning a blind eye and sends a clear message: those who profit from international markets must also protect people and the environment. Undermining the law’s core obligations would harm not only the people in producing countries but also the EU’s credibility as an economic partner."