Today’s European Parliament’s vote on corporate sustainability due diligence will bring some long-awaited justice for victims of multinationals’ crimes and is a victory in the fight to end corporate impunity. 

For far too long, the EU has supported a system in which multinational companies can organise and profit from the exploitation of workers in global value chains without taking any responsibility for their safety and the violation of their rights.

The Left has fought for European due diligence legislation to tackle corporate impunity in line with the call of human rights and environmental defenders. It took the EU five years to finally have this piece of legislation adopted, which the right wing and the far right have relentlessly attempted to derail, bowing to corporate lobbyists’ interests. 

The new EU corporate due diligence law requires companies to prevent, cease, and mitigate human rights and environmental abuse throughout their value chains.

Multinationals that continue to profit from exploiting people and nature will face fines of up to 5% of their worldwide net turnover.

At the same time, victims of such abuses will have access to justice before EU courts and the right to claim reparations.

According to this legislation, all major companies operating in the EU must prevent, stop, and remedy violations committed by their subcontractors and suppliers. These include undignified working conditions and pollution. 

Co-President of The Left Manon Aubry (La France Insoumise, France) declared: 

“The adoption of the corporate due diligence directive is a historical step against corporate impunity. It is a victory for The Left, which has initiated, supported, and strengthened this law, ensuring that criminal corporations face fines of up to 5% of their global turnover. Eleven years ago, 1,137 textile workers died in Bangladesh in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory. They died because multinational corporations exploited them via their value chains without being accountable for their safety and their human rights. Today, we commemorate their deaths and countless victims of corporate crimes against human rights and the environment in the most meaningful way: by finally adopting a law against corporate impunity.”