The Belgian presidency intends to examine whether the concerns raised by the member states could still be addressed in consultation with the European Parliament.
The EU member states could not find the necessary support to approve the corporate responsibility directive in Brussels. The matter was discussed on Wednesday by the ambassadors of the member countries.
The current presidency of the EU, Belgium, made the announcement message service in X, that the necessary qualified majority behind the approval of the regulation could not be found. The Presidency intends to review the situation and see if the concerns raised by the Member States can be addressed in consultation with the European Parliament.
The Corporate Responsibility Directive threatened to collapse in Brussels already more than two weeks ago, but Belgium removed it from the agenda of the meeting at the last minute. Several countries, including Finland, have viewed the content of the directive critically.
In Finland, a large committee of the parliament has considered that Finland can be part of a larger group without supporting the directive. According to EU rules, it practically means the same as opposing the project.
In Finland, the government has been irritated, among other things, by the fact that the right of class action would also extend beyond consumer rights. In this case, for example, trade unions or environmental organizations could file lawsuits on behalf of individuals against companies for breach of liability obligations.
No official pitting
The ambassadors discussed the directive at their meeting on Wednesday, but the actual official “death certificate” for the corporate responsibility directive was still not given in Brussels. At the same time, the EU elections in June are fast approaching and the work to promote legislative projects during this parliamentary term is running out.
The approval of the Corporate Responsibility Directive requires the blessing of both the European Parliament and the member states, so EU countries cannot decide on their own to drop some points from the regulation.
The idea of the Corporate Responsibility Directive is to oblige companies to investigate and prevent the negative effects of their operations on the realization of human rights and the environment. This would concern, for example, the use of child labor, pollution and deforestation.
In Finland, several Finnish organizations have criticized the decision not to support its adoption.