FESI and EURATEX call for simplification of Due Diligence Directive
Twenty-seven European business associations, including clothing and textiles association EURATEX and sporting goods association FESI, have urged the European Commission to simplify the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) to avoid potential problems for businesses with global supply chains, particularly for SMEs.
The joint appeal stresses that, while companies support sustainability principles, the directive’s complex requirements may risk competitive disadvantages and create undue regulatory burdens.
The letter advocates for a full competitiveness assessment of the requirements, allowing for clarification and burden reduction in future guidance and implementation.
The associations recommend that guidelines and supporting legislation be issued two years prior to mandatory compliance deadlines. Alternatively, an extended transition period would allow companies to make the necessary adjustments. They said: “It takes at least two years for companies to prepare internally to comply with legislation, even more so when this involves revising the broader contractual relationships with suppliers in Europe and globally.”
The associations are also urging the Commission to ensure coherence between national implementations to maintain competitiveness in the Single Market, particularly as the directive’s requirements grow more complex. “Without clear and consistent guidelines to streamline implementation and coherent national transposition and enforcement, the CS3D may impose excessive regulatory burdens on companies due to the complexity of its due diligence requirements,” they added.
