The Corporate Responsibility Directive would harmonize responsibility requirements in EU countries.
Ministry of Labor and Economy according to the position, Finland can abstain from voting on the negotiation result of the corporate responsibility directive, which has been prepared for years in the EU, as part of a larger group. The Parliament's grand committee will discuss the matter on Friday, as will apparently the European Council.
Finland came to this position despite the fact that the agreement reached by the EU institutions sufficiently takes into account Finland's key negotiation goals.
For Finland, the “difficult issues” are related to the provisions regarding the class action for damages and the obligation to present evidence, because they “diverge from the general provisions in force in our country and disperse the system”.
Companies in Finland and Europe have supported the corporate responsibility directive on a fairly broad front, which would harmonize responsibility requirements in EU countries. It is not only about the greatest possible uniformity of the responsibility requirements of EU countries and some non-EU countries, but also about supplementing and clarifying regulations already approved in the EU.
The overturning of the directive would not serve the interests of Finnish companies. Finland should not listen to Germany's positions on the matter now, because it already has its own national law on the responsibility of corporate supply chains.
The Corporate Responsibility Directive brings much-needed clarification to the content of companies' duty of care regarding human rights and the environment. The failure of the directive, on the other hand, will lead to even more fragmented national systems regarding corporate responsibility.
Kristina Kouros
doctor of law, director of corporate responsibility consulting, Helsinki
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