EU Parliament Deals Blow To Workers' Rights In Global Supply Chains

Today, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee approved its report on the European Commission’s Omnibus I proposal. In doing so, MEPs have prevented the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) from having meaningful impacts for garment workers and other rights-holders in global value chains.

First adopted in 2024, the CSDDD applied only to large companies operating in and based in the EU. The original text of the law included a human rights due diligence process broadly in line with international standards and a European civil liability regime to remedy corporate abuses. In 2025, the European Commission tabled a revision of the directive as part of its ‘simplification’ exercise. Instead of a genuine attempt to limit “bureaucracy”, while preserving the content of the CSDDD, this resulted in a reckless mission to deregulate. The report adopted today reduces the number of companies the law applies to, the depth of the due diligence process and endorses the Omnibus proposal on civil liability, meaning no clear European liability mechanisms for violation of workers’ rights in value chains. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) had already opposed the Commission proposal.

“MEPs today betrayed garment workers worldwide”, said Giuseppe Cioffo, Lobby and Advocacy Coordinator at the CCC International office. “What could have been a game-changer for workers living on poverty wages and denied their fundamental labour rights could now turn into a tool for brands to white-wash their practices”, he added.

“We do not need a law for a handful of companies. This text will have little to no meaningful impact for garment workers,” said Deborah Lucchetti, National Coordinator of CCC Italy, referring to the threshold of application of the law, now set to 5,000 employees and 1.5 billion euros in net turnover. “Only in the past two years we have witnessed major violations of labour rights in the suppliers of high-street luxury brands, large and well-known companies that could fall the scope of the Directive”, she explained.

“MEPs should reject this text in the plenary vote. This Omnibus is the result of a worrying undemocratic process. MEPs should acknowledge the criticism from trade unions, labour rights organisations, NGOs, businesses and academia and reject the Commission’s proposal altogether”, said Marjella Bronkhorst, Lobby & Advocacy Coordinator for CCC - Schone Kleren Campagne.

Contacts

Giuseppe Cioffo, Lobby and Advocacy Coordinator,  Clean Clothes Campaign International Office

giuseppe(at)cleanclothes.org

Marjella Bonkhorst, Lobby and Advocacy Coordinator, Schone Kleren Campagne

marjella(at)schonekleren.nl