All developments
EU Commission's deregulation drive weakens worker protections and corporate accountability
The European Commission has proposed changes (EC press release can be found here) that would weaken corporate accountability mechanisms designed to protect workers' rights. The amendments, part of the Commission Omnibus deregulation drive, would dilute key provisions of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Key concerns include:
- Limited due diligence scope: Companies would only assess risks in direct suppliers, ignoring deeper supply chain abuses.
- Weakened corporate accountability: Removing civil liability would make it harder for victims to seek justice.
- Reduced enforcement: Companies would no longer be required to sever ties with abusive partners, and monitoring would drop to once every five years.
- Delayed implementation: Compliance deadlines would be pushed back, slowing efforts to address corporate abuses.
Trade unions and green campaigners have protested the deregulation, calling the consultation process biased in favour of corporate lobbyists.
For more information, please see the ETUC press release here .