Corporate responsibility for human rights can no longer be overlooked. Global supply chains are complex and carry risks of human rights violations and environmental damage. We have seen too many examples where companies have contributed to abuses without taking or acknowledging responsibility.

To address this, the European Commission has proposed a legislation to promote sustainable and responsible corporate behavior in global value chains, also known as CSDDD.

We believe a strong EU due diligence framework is necessary and crucial to address these issues. With the new framework in place corporations will be required to identify, prevent, and address risks in their supply chains.

Many Swedish and Finnish companies already take responsibility to ensure that their products and services are not created at the expense of human life and health or our planet. Therefore, it is important to establish a level playing field in the EU through common legislation.

As trade unions, we also have an important role to play. That is why we have pushed during the negotiations for democratic and free trade unions to have a meaningful right to participate in the whole due diligence process.

Unfortunately, Finland and Sweden have hindered progress towards responsible business conduct. Although a provisional agreement was reached at the end of 2023, many member states opposed it, including Sweden and Finland, which have a tradition of defending human rights. This is regrettable.

The Council of Ministers will discuss the matter again on Friday. Although Finland has now signaled that it can support the draft law, a watered-down version is on the Council of Ministers' table.

We regret that Sweden and Finland have contributed to a watering down of the proposal, but we urge Sweden, like Finland, to support the regulations on companies' duty of care. It is only through a common EU regulatory framework that we can create fair competition conditions and a more sustainable world where human rights are respected at all stages of production.