This is the story of a major political renunciation. What was supposed to be the great social law of the European mandate, capable of putting an end to modern slavery and ecocide, has turned into an empty shell. After an intense ballet of lobbies and unprecedented political blackmail, the Duty of Vigilance Directive (CSDDD) was voted through on Thursday 13 November, but it now bears the indelible mark of liberal sabotage. This is the story of a democratic shipwreck in which the European right crossed a red line.
It was a promise born of the smoking rubble of Rana Plaza. On 24 April 2013, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a building housing garment factories collapsed, killing 1,138 textile workers. In the debris were the labels of major Western brands (Camaïeu, Auchan, Benetton, etc.). The world discovered with horror the true price of “fast fashion”: profits in the North based on endangering the lives of people in the South.
The “never again” that followed was to lead to this European law: finally making the parent pay. Gone are the days when a European multinational could wash its hands of the abuses committed by its subcontractors on the other side of the world by claiming ignorance. The duty of care directive was intended to create legal responsibility throughout the value chain. Yet ten years on, the final text narrowly approved by the European Parliament bears little resemblance to the original ambition. Under cover of an ‘Omnibus’ logic of administrative simplification demanded by the right and the liberals, Europe has just validated the right to profit without real responsibility.
Duty of care torpedoed: “bureaucracy” as a weapon
Why did this happen? Officially, to avoid burdening our companies with “red tape”. This is the argument that has been brandished for months by German (BDI) and French (MEDEF) employers, relayed with remarkable zeal by the European People’s Party (EPP), the conservative right with a majority in Strasbourg, against this directive on the duty of care. The rhetoric of deregulation was used as a Trojan horse to destroy the very essence of the text. This directive was intended to replace the current legal vacuum and unfair competition with strict European harmonisation.
But instead of raising standards by taking inspiration from the French law on the duty of vigilance of 2017 (already imperfect but a pioneer), Brussels has organised a race to the bottom. This text, supposed to be a shield for people and the planet, has been rewritten by the very people it was intended to regulate. The sacrosanct notion of “competitiveness” has once again crushed human rights. The undermining of lobbies has been documented by numerous NGOs. As Corporate Europe Observatory points out, the representatives of the fossil fuel industry and finance had an open table in the Commission and Parliament to empty the text of its most restrictive provisions, particularly on climate change.
At the European Parliament: The story of a “betrayal” and a Brown-Blue alliance
To understand the scale of the disaster, we need to delve into the Brussels machinery of recent months. By the end of 2023, a “final” agreement had been reached in trialogue (negotiations between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission). It was a partial victory, but a victory nonetheless. The Duty of Vigilance Directive was voted through to some applause in Strasbourg! Then a rare event occurred. Germany, under pressure from the small liberal FDP party (a member of the government coalition and very close to the business community), announced that it would no longer support the text that it had negotiated. A stab in the back for European democracy that has opened a gaping breach.
The EPP, led by Germany’s Manfred Weber, launched an all-out offensive against the text. For the European right, the Duty of Vigilance has become the symbol of the “punitive ecology” that had to be brought down before the European elections, to appeal to an electorate tempted by the far right and reassure angry farmers.
The shame culminated in the decisive votes in committee and plenary. To derail the text, the EPP did not hesitate to mix its votes with those of the far right (ECR and ID groups). This alliance between the traditional right and the nationalists on a major social and environmental text marks a worrying turning point. The “cordon sanitaire” has been breached on the altar of defending multinationals. A manoeuvre that has angered negotiators on the left. Lara Wolters, Socialist MEP (S&D) and rapporteur for the text, made no secret of her bitterness at the behaviour of the right:
“It’s a deplorable spectacle. We had an agreement. The EPP and the German Liberals have taken this text hostage for internal political games, with no regard for the victims or parliamentary work. They preferred to protect profits rather than people.
To save the text from total rejection, the left-wing groups and the ecologists had to accept humiliating concessions during last-chance negotiations with the Belgian Presidency of the EU. The result is a survival text, stripped of its vital parts.
What’s changing: Higher thresholds and no impact on finance
In practical terms, the change is in the figures, and they are cruel. The initial draft directive on due diligence was aimed at companies with more than 500 employees and a turnover of 150 million euros. After the liberal axe was wielded, the threshold was doubled to 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover. The mathematical result is that almost 70% of the companies initially targeted now escape the law. For them, it’s “business as usual”. What’s more, application will be phased in gradually, with some companies not affected until… 2029. That’s an eternity in the face of the climate and social emergency.
But the real scandal lies elsewhere. The financial sector, the lifeblood of the capitalist system, has succeeded in its tour de force: it is excluded from the obligation of vigilance. This was an absolute red line for Macron’s France and Luxembourg. European banks will be able to continue granting loans for devastating oil projects or insalubrious textile factories without being held legally responsible for the damage caused by their clients. Money has no smell, and Europe has just confirmed that it has no morals either.
Ecologists are bitter about the situation, particularly with regard to the directive’s climate impact. For French Green MEP Marie Toussaint:
By excluding finance and reducing climate transition plans to mere best-efforts obligations with no real sanctions, Europe is missing the historic opportunity to put the economy at the service of the climate. This is a law that looks to the past, not the future.
Winners and losers on the duty of care: Class warfare in Brussels
In this legislative battle, the winners are popping the champagne. They are the giants of ‘Big Finance’ (BlackRock, BNP Paribas…), the agrochemical lobbies and the extractivist multinationals. They have won in every respect. Their strategy of chaos has paid off: they have obtained a vague legal framework, interminable delays and massive exemptions.
The defeated are invisible in the hushed corridors of Strasbourg. They are the indigenous populations expropriated for cobalt mines in the DRC, the textile workers in Bangladesh, and the climate victims of the global South. For them, access to European justice will remain an almost impossible obstacle course. The burden of proof and procedural costs remain insurmountable obstacles that the final text has failed to remove.
For European citizens who were calling for ethical consumption, the defeat is just as bitter. By giving in to the dogmas of the market, the European Union has proved that its “moral compass” goes haywire as soon as the interests of big business are threatened. For the Left Group in the European Parliament, this vote is symptomatic of a disastrous end to its mandate. Manon Aubry MEP sums up the general feeling:
It was supposed to be the law of the century against the impunity of multinationals, but it has become the law of “catch me if you can”. By allying itself with the far right to destroy this text, the European right has shown its true face: that of class contempt and climate indifference.
This vote marks the end of an illusion: that of a social Europe capable of regulating unfortunate globalisation. The Green Deal is dying, the social pillar is collapsing, and the multinationals can carry on dancing. A month ago, the text was saved by a margin of nine votes. Not so this time!
The Number: 0.05
This is the tiny proportion of European companies that will actually be affected by this watered-down duty of care directive. By raising the application thresholds under pressure from Germany, France and Italy, the EU has transformed a law that was supposed to change the system into an anecdotal exception. 99.95% of the European economic fabric therefore remains free to turn a blind eye to what is happening in its subcontracting chain. A resounding victory for employers.
