Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Online Policy Workshop

Watch the workshop here: https://bit.ly/3IXd3vr

Download Programme

European Commission Directive on

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Monday, 28 March 2022 | 16:30 – 19:00 CEST

Tuesday, 29 March 2022 | 16:30 – 19:00 CEST

Presentation of Speakers:

Paul Davies: BRIEFING: DUE DILIGENCE IN SUPPLY CHAINS AND NET ZERO PLANS

Guido Ferrarini: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE & THE SHIFTING BALANCE BETWEEN SOFT LAW & HARD LAW IN THE EU

Anne Lafarre: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE

Daniela Weber-Rey: THE VIEW OF THE NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Alessio Pacces: THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR A SUPPLY CHAIN LIABILITY

Georg Ringe: NET-ZERO PLANS UNDER THE CSDD DIRECTIVE

John Armour: DIRECTORS' DUTIES AND CLIMATE REMUNERATION

Renée Adams: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE

Steen Thomsen: THE CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY DUE DILIGENCE DIRECTIVE

Florian Moeslein: DIRECTOR'S DUE DILIGENCE DUTIES?

Organised by 

Marco Becht (Université libre de Bruxelles and ECGI)

Luca Enriques (University of Oxford and ECGI)

Erik Lidman (Stockholm School of Economics)

Rolf Skog (Stockholm School of Economics and ECGI)

About the Event

The European Commission has published its long-awaited proposals on “sustainable corporate governance”, which has morphed into a proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. The proposal largely builds on an expert report on due diligence requirements through the supply chain and existing laws in some EU Member States. Reference to short-termism and the EY Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance that has been discussed extensively in ECGI seminars and working papers has been dropped. The path to the current proposal is traced in a long introduction, that you might wish to read.
 
The aim of the directive that the European Commission now proposes “is to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour and to anchor human rights and environmental considerations in companies’ operations and corporate governance. The new rules will ensure that businesses address adverse impacts of their actions, including in their value chains inside and outside Europe.”  A summary of the material content of the proposal, which focuses mainly on due diligence in supply chains, can be found here.
 
The proposal will now go to the European Parliament and the Council for negotiations.

ECGI, in collaboration with Stockholm University, in planning to take an active role in the debate of the proposal and hosted a two-day online seminar on 28–29 March. The themes of the sessions  corresponded to the main themes of the proposed directive:

Day 1 (28 March): Due diligence in supply chains and net-zero plans
Day 2 (29 March): Director’s duties and climate remuneration issues
 
Each session included short presentations of the themes and the contents of the directive proposal relating to them, followed by a panel discussion with panelists