EU Council Turning Supply Chain Law into Window Dressing

The European Union is backtracking on a key law aimed at protecting human rights and the environment in global supply chains, Human Rights Watch warned. On June 23, 2025, EU member states, led by France and Germany, endorsed a European Council position that would significantly weaken the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

Originally enacted in July 2024 as part of the European Green Deal, the CSDDD aimed to hold companies legally accountable for abuses throughout their supply chains. However, recent efforts backed by the new EU Commission and industry lobbyists seek to strip the directive of critical obligations, such as requiring companies to conduct due diligence beyond their direct suppliers and allowing victims to sue.

Critics, including legal experts, the UN, and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, argue that narrowing the scope undermines the law’s intent and violates international standards like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Many abuses, they note, occur deeper in supply chains at the raw materials or manufacturing level.

The European Parliament now faces a pivotal decision: uphold the directive’s original protections or allow it to be gutted. Human Rights Watch called this rollback a betrayal of EU commitments to human rights and sustainability.