EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive receives qualified majority of votes in Coreper

On 15 March, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States (Coreper) discussed the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The amended proposal for a Directive received a qualified majority of votes of the Member States in Coreper. The matter was previously discussed on 28 February. The European Parliament must now approve the content of the Directive.

Finland supported the proposal put forward by the Belgian Presidency. During the negotiations, Finland actively sought to exert influence on those provisions of the Directive it considered problematic. One of the provisions was the obligation to introduce class actions, which was added to the proposal during the trilogue negotiations. The matter was resolved as required by Finland. 

The Belgian Presidency also put forward a number of other proposals to address the concerns of various Member States. The Directive’s scope of application was amended in the proposal by the Presidency. The Directive will apply to companies with at least 1,000 employees that have a turnover of EUR 450 million. In the previous proposal, the Directive would have applied to companies with at least 500 employees and a turnover of EUR 150 million, as well as to smaller companies in certain high-impact sectors. The high-impact sectors have been removed from the Presidency’s proposal, but they will be examined later as part of a regulatory review. 

The Directive will be implemented in three stages. After three years of the entry into force of the Directive, the obligations will apply to companies with 5,000 employees and a turnover of EUR 1,500 million and after four years to companies with 3,000 employees and a turnover of EUR 900 million. After five years, the obligations will apply to companies with 1,000 employees and a turnover of EUR 450 million.

The Directive will significantly increase the liabilities and obligations of large companies to mitigate any possible adverse impacts of their own operations and those of their subsidiaries and business partners. 

Inquiries:

Jukka Sarhimaa, Special Adviser, tel. +358 295 047 330 (political questions)
Liisa Huhtala, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 047 062 (content of the Directive)