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Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Laws and Non-European Stakeholders: A Case of Laws Promising More in Theory Than They Can Deliver in Reality?

Environmental Policy
European Union
Globalisation
Governance
Human Rights
Regulation
Global
Trade
Caroline Lichuma
Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Caroline Lichuma
Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Abstract

The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is a game changer in the progress towards enhancing responsible business conduct in Global Supply Chains. It sets hard obligations for covered companies, their subsidiaries and business partners, in the “chain of activities” as relates to the protection of human rights and the environment. As EU states are now in the transposition phase of the CSDDD, trailblazers such as France, Germany and Norway will soon no longer be the only European countries boasting mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence (mHRDD) laws. And yet, valid concerns linger about the abilities of mHRDD laws to change the lived realities of non-European stakeholders on the ground, given the numerous barriers that stakeholders outside of Europe are likely to face in relying on these laws to vindicate their rights. After all, the true test of the Directive’s ability to enhance responsible conduct lies in how effectively it will be implemented. This paper critically analyzes the opportunities available for stakeholders (including rightsholders) whose interests mHRDD laws are intended to protect, to participate in due diligence processes. Crucially, in light of factors such as the power asymmetries that exist between covered companies and stakeholders, this contribution will highlight the barriers likely to be faced by non-European stakeholders in the implementation of mHRDD laws, and offer some concrete suggestions for the way forward.