EU member states back the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive with narrower scope
On 15 March 2024 EU ambassadors endorsed a revised Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive after earlier votes stalled. The compromise covered EU companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450 million worldwide turnover, dropped the lower thresholds for high-risk sectors, and phased obligations in from 2027 to 2029 by company size.
EU ambassadors meeting in Coreper endorsed the final compromise text of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on 15 March 2024. A vote planned for February had been pulled when several member states said they would abstain.
What the compromise set
- EU companies are in scope with more than 1,000 employees and more than €450 million net worldwide turnover. The provisional deal of December 2023 had 500 employees and €150 million.
- Non-EU companies are in scope with more than €450 million net turnover generated in the EU.
- The lower thresholds for high-risk sectors were removed.
- Obligations phase in by size: the largest companies first, then those with more than 3,000 employees and €900 million, then those with more than 1,000 employees and €450 million.
- In-scope companies must identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their own operations and chain of activities, and adopt a climate transition plan.
Who is affected
Large EU and non-EU groups, their boards and the company secretaries who support board oversight of risk and reporting.
What to do
Nothing applied yet. Large groups began mapping their supply chains and governance against the directive.
Later developments
Parliament approved the text on 24 April 2024 and the Council on 24 May 2024. It was published as Directive (EU) 2024/1760 on 5 July 2024. The Omnibus I package, adopted by the Council on 24 February 2026, narrowed it sharply. The scope is now more than 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion turnover, and compliance starts on 26 July 2029. The 2024 thresholds above are no longer the operative scope.