The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council is leaning towards the exclusion of the financial sector from the EU corporate accountability rules, which are currently under inter-institutional negotiations, according to an internal document seen by Euractiv.
In the document, prepared ahead of a meeting of member state attachés on Friday (10 November), Spain – which is currently at the helm of the rotating EU Council Presidency – proposes to exclude finance from the EU corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD), a law set to make large companies accountable for human rights and environmental violations along their value chains.
The exclusion of the sector is proposed due to the internal divisions among member states on the issue which, according to the text, could put the overall agreement on the law at risk.
In their general approach adopted last December, member states agreed to leave the inclusion of the sector as a national option, a move spearheaded by France, which continues to strongly support a carve-out of finance from mandatory due diligence requirements. […] The Parliament had voted in favour of the inclusion of finance in June.
Source: Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. Continue reading.