Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Adopted
On 24 May 2024, the Council of the European Union approved the position of the European Parliament at first reading on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on corporate sustainability due diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (and subsequently also Regulation (EU) 2023/2859).
The directive has thereby been formally adopted (the final text can be read here) and should be published shortly on the Official Journal of the European Union.
It will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal. Member States will then have two years to transpose the directive into national legislation.
The implementing measures enacted by Member States will become applicable according to timeframes that vary depending on the size and origin of the companies concerned, ranging from three to five years following the entry into force of the directive, as specified in Article 37.
A presentation of the key provisions of the directive can be found here.
The directive formed the object of several posts on this blog, by Giesela Rühl (Human Rights in Global Supply Chains: Do We Need to Amend the Rome II Regulation?’, 9 October 2020), Marion Ho-Dac (Brief Overview of the Directive Proposal on Corporate Due Diligence and PIL, 27 April 2022), Hans van Loon Hans (GEDIP’s Reccommendation on the Proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, 25 October 2022), Ralf Michaels and Antonia Sommerfeld (The EU Sustainability Directive and Jurisdiction, 3 August 2023), and Marco Pasqua (Deal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, 20 March 2024).
Other blogs hosted contributions relating to the private international law aspects of the directive. These notably include a recent post by Eduardo Silva de Freitas and Sandra Kramer Xandra, titled The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: PIL and Litigation Aspects, published on Conflict of Laws.
During the legislative process that resulted in the directive, several contributions regarding the issues of private international law surrounding the new text have also appeared in journals and collective works. Some of them are listed below:
– Angelica Bonfanti, ‘Catene globali del valore, diritti umani e ambiente, nella prospettiva del diritto internazionale privato: verso una direttiva europea sull’obbligo di diligenza delle imprese in materia di sostenibilità’ (2022) 3 JUS 295-329
– Nerina Boschiero, ‘L’extraterritorialità della futura direttiva europea sul dovere di diligenza delle imprese ai fini della sostenibilità, tra diritto internazionale pubblico e privato’ (2023) 3 Diritti umani e diritto internazionale 661-706
– Olivera Boskovic, ‘Extraterritoriality and the proposed directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, a recap‘ (2024) 20 Journal of Private International Law 117-128
– Antonia Duran Ayago, ‘Human Rights, Due Diligence and Corporate Sustainability: Implications for European Private International Law regarding a Proposal for a Directive in the Air‘ (2022) 22 Anuario Espanol Derecho Internacional Privado 329-358
– Nadia Perrone, ‘Perspectives of Extraterritorial Jurisdiction for Environmental Damage in the Proposal of the European Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence’ (2023) 3.2 The Italian Review of International and Comparative Law 389-408
– Chiara Enrica Tuo, ‘Rimedi per abusi di diritti umani da parte delle imprese: profili di diritto internazionale privato’ in Fabrizio Marrella, Carlo Mastellone (eds), International Business Contracts and Sustainability (Pacini 2024) 101-142.