On July 23, Human Rights Watch filed a written submission to the European Commission on the European Union’s landmark corporate accountability law, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
The European Commission is currently formulating guidance on how companies should implement the law, which requires businesses to identify and address human rights risks in their operations and supply chains.
The passage of the law in 2024 was a key step in the fight to tackle corporate abuses in the global operations of large companies. High profile cases where corporate failings contributed to huge loss of life —such as the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, in which 1,138 garment workers died, and the 2019 Brumadinho mine dam disaster in Brazil, which buried communities and killed 270 people—have shown the need for binding laws requiring companies to respect human rights.
Strong European Commission guidance on how businesses should implement the law is vital given companies’ successful efforts to weaken key provisions and limit its scope. Lobbying by European and US companies, especially the fossil fuel industry, contributed to European lawmakers and member states gutting key elements of the law in December 2025, reducing the number of companies covered and delaying until July 2029 for the law to become binding for companies.
The European Commission’s current short nine-week window for accepting input on the guidelines on how to implement the law, and the requirement that submissions follow a detailed questionnaire, with severe word limits, restricts meaningful feedback.
Human Rights Watch’s submission underscores the importance of companies establishing accessible and safe ways to consult with unions, workers, and local civil society organizations on the risks linked to their businesses, which could range from child and forced labor in factories to harmful pollution related to key materials in their products.
It also emphasizes that, if human rights abuses do occur, companies need to develop proportionate and prompt remedies for victims, tailored to the needs and perspectives of those affected.
The EU’s landmark corporate accountability law is a vital new tool for tackling corporate human rights abuses. The European Commission’s guidelines should ensure that the law lives up to its potential by setting a high bar requiring companies to protect the rights of workers and communities in global supply chains.
