EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence: critical analysis and limitations of the European Commission's proposal

In recent years, the development of Corporate Social Responsibility has progressively become a central element of the European Union's strategy, notably through its famous Green Deal. On the 23rd of February 2022, after numerous calls and following recommendations made by several European actors, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Until now, due diligence frameworks have been followed by some firms on a purely voluntary basis. However, if adopted in its current form, the text will this time oblige certain large European and non-European companies to implement due diligence processes to identify, prevent, mitigate, and above all cease the negative impacts of their activities and those of their entire supply chain on human rights and the environment. This future obligation could therefore represent a major step forward in reducing corporate abuses on workers, on communities and on the planet. However, as will be discussed in this thesis, the proposal also gives rise to various concerns and presents some limitations. Indeed, for this legal framework to be relevant and useful, it must be sufficiently ambitious and binding...