In a joint open letter, 45 civil society and trade union organisations, including ECCJ, congratulate Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, for the decision to propose legislation on both corporate due diligence and directors’ duties in 2021.

The undersigned organisations stress the need for a robust European legal framework consisting of:

1. new horizontal legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental corporate due diligence, including liability rules for harm arising out of human rights and environmental abuses; and
2. new sustainable corporate governance legislation focused on directors’ duties – notably requiring sustainability strategies and targets for companies, to ensure that directors move away from short-termism, strengthen democracy at work and workers’ involvement in company matters, and consider all rights- and stakeholders’ interests.