EU: FAQs on the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: what has changed?

Following a roller-coaster legislative process which started in February 2022, the Council of the EU finally endorsed the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD / CS3D) on Friday 15 March. 

The Legal Affairs Committee of the EU Parliament followed suit today and the Parliament's plenary is expected to vote on the CSDDD on 24 April. 

So it looks likely that the EU institutions will be able to formally adopt the text before the upcoming EU elections in June. In which case, the CSDDD would apply from mid-2027 to mid-2029 to in-scope companies, depending on their size. 

For large companies operating in the EU and their business partners, this is a pivotal turning point as the CSDDD supplements the duty to disclose sustainability-related information with a duty to act to foster sustainability and climate transition. 

The new rules impose far-reaching due diligence obligations on large companies operating in the EU and introduce an obligation for these companies to adopt and implement climate transition plans. The CSDDD also provides strict enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with its requirements.  

Last Friday , as soon as the Council had endorsed the CSDDD, we published an initial blog post with a high-level summary of the revised CSDDD. 

We have since had a chance to analyse the revised text of the Directive in more detail – see our detailed briefing - FAQs: The upcoming EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

We will also be holding a webinar in April after the European Parliament has voted on this file, to discuss further the final text and its implications. Stay tuned for the webinar registration details.

 If you have any questions or would like to discuss the CSDDD in further detail, please reach out to your usual Linklaters ESG contacts.