What changed between the adopted text of 1 Jun 2023 and the adopted text of 24 Apr 2024

Removed:Article 19 – paragraph 5: 5. Member States shall ensure that the persons submitting the substantiated concern according to this Article have access to a court or other independent and impartial public body competent to review the procedural and substantive legality of the decisions, acts or failure to act of the supervisory authority.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2: 2. In deciding whether to impose sanctions and, if so, in determining their nature and appropriate level, due account shall be taken of:

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point a (new): (a) the company’s efforts to comply with any remedial action required of them by a supervisory authority;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point b (new): (b) any investments made and any targeted support provided pursuant to Articles 7 and 8;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point c (new): (c) any collaboration with other entities to address adverse impacts in its value chains;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point d (new): (d) the seriousness and duration of the company’s infringement, or the severity of the impacts that have occurred;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point e (new): (e) the extent to which prioritisation decisions were reasonable, credible and taken in good faith;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point f (new): (f) any previous infringements by the company of national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point g (new): (g) the financial benefits gained or losses avoided by the company due to the infringement, if the relevant data are available;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point h (new): (h) penalties imposed in respect of similar infringements in other Member States;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point i (new): (i) whether the company has effectively dealt with complaints or proposals raised by persons or affected stakeholders, including pursuant to Article 9;

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 – point j (new): (j) any other aggravating or mitigating factors applicable to the circumstances of the case.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. At least the following measures and sanctions shall be provided for: / (a) pecuniary sanctions; / (b) a public statement indicating that a company is responsible and the nature of the infringement; / (c) the obligation to perform an action, including to cease the conduct constituting the infringement and to desist from any repetition of that conduct; / (d) the suspension of products from free circulation or export.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 3: 3. When pecuniary sanctions are imposed, they shall be based on the company’s net worldwide turnover. The maximum limit of pecuniary sanctions shall be not less than 5% of the net worldwide turnover of the company in the business year preceding the fining decision.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 a (new): Member States shall ensure that, with regards to companies referred to in Article 2(1), point (b) and Article 2(2), point (b), administrative pecuniary sanctions are calculated taking into account the consolidated turnover reported by that company.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Member States shall lay down rules so that companies which are formed in accordance with the legislation of a third country under Article 2(2) shall be excluded from public procurement processes if they fail to appoint an authorised representative under Article 16.

Removed:Article 20 – paragraph 4: 4. Member States shall keep a record of sanctions that have been imposed and ensure that any decision of the supervisory authorities containing sanctions related to the breach of the provisions of this directive is published. The published decision shall not contain any personal data within the meaning of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

Removed:Article 21 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: The Commission shall set up a European Network of Supervisory Authorities, composed of representatives of the supervisory authorities. The Network shall facilitate the cooperation of the supervisory authorities and the coordination and alignment of regulatory, investigative, sanctioning and supervisory practices of the supervisory authorities and, as appropriate, sharing of information among them, as well as ensuring regular public communication on the activities of the Network.

Removed:Article 21 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: The Commission shall invite the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, the European Environment Agency, the European Labour Authority, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the European Securities and Markets Authority and other Union agencies with relevant expertise in the areas covered by this Directive to join the European Network of Supervisory Authorities.

Removed:Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Member States shall cooperate with the Network in order to identify the companies within their jurisdiction , in particular by providing all necessary information in order to assess whether a non-European company fulfils the criteria set in Article 2.

Removed:Article 21 – paragraph 8 a (new): 8a. The European Network of Supervisory Authorities shall publish a register of non-EU companies and their compliance.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) they failed to comply with the obligations laid down in this Directive and;

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) as a result of this failure the company caused or contributed to an actual adverse impact that should have been identified, prioritised, prevented, mitigated, brought to an end, remediated or its extent minimised through the appropriate measures laid down in this Directive and led to damage.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1: deleted

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2: In the assessment of the existence and extent of liability, due account shall be taken of the extent of the company’s efforts, insofar as they relate directly to the damage in question, to take remedial action, including that required of them by a supervisory authority, any investments made and any targeted support provided pursuant to Articles 7 and 8, as well as any collaboration with other entities and affected stakeholders to address adverse impacts in its value chains.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Member States shall ensure that: / (a) the limitation period for bringing actions for damages is at least ten years and measures are in place to ensure that costs of the proceedings are not prohibitively expensive for claimants to seek justice; / (b) claimants are able to seek injunctive measures, including summary proceedings. These shall be in the form of a definitive or provisional measure to cease an action which may be in breach of this Directive, or to comply with a measure under this Directive; / (c) measures are in place to ensure that mandated trade unions, civil society organisations, or other relevant actors acting in the public interest can bring actions before a court on behalf of a victim or a group of victims of adverse impacts, and that these entities have the rights and obligations of a claimant party in the proceedings, without prejudice to existing national law; / (d) when a claim is brought, that a claimant provides elements substantiating the likelihood of a company’s liability under this Directive and has indicated that additional evidence lies in the control of the company, courts are able to order that such evidence be disclosed by the company in accordance with national procedural law, subject to the Union and national rules on confidentiality and proportionality.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 2 b (new): 2b. Companies that have participated in industry or multi-stakeholder initiatives, multi-stakeholders initiatives, or used third-party verification or contractual clauses to support the implementation of specific aspects of their due diligence obligations can still be held liable in accordance with this Article.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 3: 3. The civil liability of a company for damages arising under this provision shall be without prejudice to the civil liability of its subsidiaries or of any direct and indirect business partners in the value chain. In such instances as where a subsidiary is under the scope of this Directive and has been dissolved by the parent company or has dissolved itself intentionally in order to avoid liability, the liability can be imputed to the parent company in case there is no legal successor.

Removed:Article 22 – paragraph 4: 4. The civil liability rules under this Directive shall not limit companies' liability under Union or national legal systems, including rules on joint and several liability.

Removed:Article 24 – title: Public support, public procurement and public concessions

Removed:Article 24 – paragraph 1: Member States shall ensure that (non-)compliance with the obligations resulting from this Directive or their voluntary implementation qualifies as one of the environmental and social aspects to be taken into consideration in accordance with the rules applicable to the provision of public support or the award of public contracts and concessions.

Removed:Amendments 391 and 405

Removed:Article 26

Removed:Amendment: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted)

Removed:Article 28 – paragraph 2: 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3(2), Article 11 and Article 14(4a) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 5 years from … [date of entry into force of this Directive]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power no later than nine months before the end of the 5-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such an extension no later than three months before the end of each period.

Removed:Article 28 – paragraph 3: 3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3(2), and Article 11 or Article 14(4a) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Removed:Article 28 – paragraph 6: 6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3(2), Article 11 or Article 14(4a) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Removed:Article 29 – title: Review and reporting

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. No later than … [OP please insert the date = 6 years after the date of entry into force of this Directive], and every 3 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit a comprehensive report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of this Directive. The report shall evaluate the effectiveness of this Directive in reaching its objectives, in particular regarding its effectiveness in preventing potential adverse impacts, bringing actual adverse impacts to an end or minimising their extent globally, derive recommendations for actions and shall be accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal. The report shall assess in particular the following issues:

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point -a (new): (-a) the impact of this Directive on SMEs, accompanied by an account and assessment of the effectiveness of the different measures and tools for support provided to SMEs by the Commission and the Member States;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point -a a (new): (-aa) an assessment of the number of small and medium-sized undertakings voluntarily applying corporate sustainability and due diligence in line with this Directive;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point -a b (new): (-ab) the effectiveness of this Directive in achieving its objectives, including the associated indirect costs and the economic, social and environmental benefits thereof as well as the effects on the competitiveness of European Union companies;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) whether the thresholds regarding the number of employees and net turnover laid down in Article 2 need to be lowered, in particular for certain sectors, whether the modalities for calculating thresholds are appropriate and whether significant loopholes need to be closed for the Directive to apply to all relevant legal forms of economic operators and complex corporate structures;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new): (aa) the effectiveness of the enforcement mechanisms put in place at national level and of the sanctions and procedures for civil liability in particular;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point a b (new): (ab) the convergence and divergence between national laws of the Member States transposing this Directive;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point b: deleted

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point c: deleted

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point d: (d) whether Articles 4 to 14 should be extended to additional adverse impacts, in particular to also encompass adverse impacts on good governance.

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point d a (new): (da) whether a broad sustainability plan, dealing with other environmental impacts than climate, shall be developed;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 – point d b (new): (db) whether the definition of "value chain" as regards regulated financial undertakings should be extended to a wider range of companies;

Removed:Article 29 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. The Commission shall initiate and coordinate an annual Union-wide assessment of the resilience of companies to adverse scenarios related to their value chains. The Commission shall provide this assessment to the European Parliament and the Council.

Removed:Article 30 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – introductory part: They shall apply those provisions from… [OJ to insert: 3 years from the entry into force of this Directive] as regards companies referred to in Article 2(1) which had more than 1000 employees on average and had a net worldwide turnover of more than EUR 150 million in the last financial year, or were the ultimate parent company of a group with such a number of employees and generating such a turnover, and Article 2(2) which generated a net turnover of more than EUR 150 million in the Union in the financial year preceding the last financial year, or were the ultimate parent company of a group generating such a turnover. / They shall apply those provisions from… [OJ to insert: 4 years from the entry into force of this Directive] as regards companies referred to in Article 2(1), which had more than 500 employees on average and had a net worldwide turnover of more than EUR 150 million in the last financial year, or were the ultimate parent company of a group with such a number of employees and generating such a turnover. / They shall apply those provisions from… [OJ to insert: 4 years from entry into force of this Directive] as regards companies referred to in Article 2(1) point (a), which had more than 250 employees on average and had a net worldwide turnover of more than EUR 40 million, and Article 2(2) which generated a net turnover of more than EUR 40 million in the Union and EUR 150 million worldwide in the financial year preceding the last financial year or were the ultimate…

Removed:Article 30 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point a: deleted

Removed:Article 30 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point b: deleted

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – title: 1. Rights and prohibitions included in international human rights agreements

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – point 1: 1. The people's right to dispose of a land's natural resources and to not be deprived of means of subsistence in accordance with Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – point 2: 2. The right to life and security in accordance with Article 3 of the Universal Declaration on Human rights;

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – point 3: 3. The prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in accordance with Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – point 4: 4. The right to liberty and security in accordance with Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Removed:Annex I – Part I – subheading 1 – point 5: 5. The prohibition of arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person's privacy, family, home or correspondence and attacks on their reputation, in accordance with Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;