On 8 February, the Grand Committee decided, as the position of Parliament, to agree with the position of the Government in the negotiations regarding the corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD).
The Grand Committee emphasizes that it supports regulating corporate responsibility at the EU level. The Committee considers it important that if a qualified majority is not found among the EU member states in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) on Friday, February 9, an agreement on the matter and solutions to Finland's concerns should be sought before the European Parliament elections.
The Grand Committee agrees with the Government's view that a compromise has been reached in the trilogue negotiations, which ensures a harmonized regulatory environment for companies operating in the EU area in terms of sustainability regulation.
However, Finland is very critical of the negotiation result regarding the class action lawsuits for damages and the evidence disclosure obligations. These elements were introduced into the proposal in the final stages of the negotiations without the content of the provisions having been properly discussed in the EU Council. Judging as a whole, Finland considers that it can abstain from voting on the outcome of the negotiations as part of a larger group. The Grand Committee considers it justified that Finland's voting decision is considered based on the last-minute situation and comprehensively weighing the above-mentioned elements of the proposal.
The provisions regarding the class action lawsuits for damages and the evidence disclosure obligations cannot be considered as solutions that work for the Finnish legal system, as they deviate from the general provisions in force in Finland and would disperse the system.
The Grand Committee considers it important that the directive creates a clear, feasible and equal operating environment for companies. Like the Government, the Grand Committee considers that the scope of the directive is mostly balanced and guarantees sufficient ambition for the regulation on the one hand and takes into account proportionality on the other hand.
The aim of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is to increase respect for human rights and environmental protection worldwide by influencing companies to consider sustainability aspects more comprehensively in their decisions than before.
The representatives of parliamentary groups of the Greens, the Social Democrats and the Left Alliance announced that they will submit a dissenting opinion to the committee statement.