News and insights

EU Mandatory Corporate Due Diligence Accountability – ten key questions answered.

21st April 2021

Adam Smith-Anthony, Partner & Head of Business and Human Rights at Omnia Strategy, together with Jonathan Drimmer of Paul Hastings, has authored a detailed but accessible review of the latest developments in the EU’s Sustainable Corporate Governance legislative initiative, for Bloomberg Law.

The European Union rapidly marched toward a requirement that companies doing business in the EU conduct broad human rights due diligence across their operations and value chains. On February 11, 2021, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI Committee) published a revised report containing a draft directive that MEPs described as “ambitious,” “broad,” and “comprehensive.”

Indeed, it is vast in scope, would require many EU-based and global businesses—including those providing financial products and services—to create new internal systems and processes, and contemplates potential penalties and liability for companies, managers, and even directors. As we await the Commission’s formal proposal, which would then be considered by the European Parliament and Council, we now have a clear roadmap of what seems likely to follow.

The article contains the top 10 questions that the European Parliament’s text tries to answer:

A full, downloadable pdf of the article can be found here: EU Mandatory Corporate Due Diligence & Accountability – Bloomberg Law