Effective Grievance Mechanisms in European Due Diligence Legislation

Fatal accidents, environmental disasters, and serious human rights abuses have occurred repeatedly in the global value chains of many companies. It is therefore imperative to ensure that those affected have the means to seek redress, thereby mitigating the risks associated with human rights violations and environmental degradation. One potential avenue for remedy is through non-state-based operational grievance mechanisms, which can exist either at the corporate level or as independent entities.

This policy brief, the first in a briefing series, examines the role of operational grievance mechanisms in the ongoing negotiations of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) between the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the EU Council. These mechanisms can play an important complementary role within a comprehensive remedy framework. An analysis of the three proposals shows that the position of the EU Parliament is most in line with these objectives. Therefore, this perspective should prevail in the EU trilogue negotiations. However, there is still scope for improving certain aspects of the EU Parliament's position.