Estonia does not support the corporate sustainability due diligence directive 

Estonia considers the directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, which will be discussed today at the representatives committee COREPER, problematic. According to the Minister of Justice, Kalle Laanet, the main reason is that the rules resulting from the directive are unclear and it is not understandable what kind of obligations and the accompanying responsibility would fall to entrepreneurs.

"In the European Union, we should protect our common values, not create excessive bureaucratic regulations," explains Minister of Justice Laanet. According to Laanet, Estonia is not underestimating the need for the greater protection of both human rights and the environment in economic activity. „At the same time we also find that this goal should be achieved with clearly understandable and feasible measures which can also justify the accompanying administrative burden on the state and companies,“ he said. "Unfortunately, this is not the case with the current outcome of the CSDDD proposal and therefore Estonia cannot endorse the final outcome of the CSDDD and will abstain at today’s COREPER session," said the Minister of Justice. Among other aspects, Estonia considers the interference with the principles of company law, the very broad and vague definition of due diligence obligations and the application of civil liability in case of violation of such obligations to be the most problematic.