Analysis of the proportionality principle in the directive on corporate sustainability due diligence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34625/issn.2183-2705(40.1)2026.ic-10Keywords:
corporate sustainability; environmental responsibility; human rights in transnational corporations; proportionality, due diligence obligations, complianceAbstract
The purposes of the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (Directive 2024/1760 - CSDDD) are the supreme values of the European Union and the Member States, i.e., Human Rights and the survival of the human species on the planet.
The proportionality analysis made by the legislators is based on imposing restrictions to the freedom to conduct a business and to the right to property. These measures must not be excessive, i.e. they should not require the businesses to abide by unnecessary or unreasonable legal restrictions.
Taking into account the legislator's duty to protect human rights and ecosystems, the central thesis of the present work is that the dilution of the subjective or objective scope that took place during the legislative process of the directive led to a prohibition by default, meaning an inability to comply with the proportionality principle, not for reasons of excessive enforcement but rather of insufficient protection (Untermassverbot).
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