Between Sustainability and Competitiveness: The Evolution of Corporate Due Diligence in European Law

This thesis examines the development of corporate sustainability within the European Union in terms of how what were once voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures have developed into mandatory legal obligations, including examining the impact of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the 2025 Omnibus Package. The work places the EU’s strategy in the context of global governance and the more specific context of how the EU seeks to reconcile competitiveness with human rights and environmental protection. The opening chapter analyzes the theoretical and legal basis of CSR, from stakeholder theory to the international standards and EU policy efforts. It is a case study of the development of the transition from voluntary corporate responsibility to juridification (leading up to the EU’s attempt to juridify sustainability). Chapter 2 offers an in-depth overview of the CSDDD’s scope, key responsibilities, enforcement mechanisms, and role within corporate governance. It considers the transformative nature of the Directive but also questions the implementation, enforcement, and coherence with international instruments. The third chapter focuses on the Omnibus Package, which aims to simplify sustainability rules and improve competitive issues. Although these measures provide regulatory flexibility to companies, they also threaten to weaken the content of protections and the EU’s credibility as a normative power. Methodologically, the thesis follows a doctrinal and critical approach, nuancing legal dogmatic with primary sources, including EU regulations, international norms and institutional communications, as well as secondary sources, material legal doctrine, academic literature and policy papers. Particular attention is given to the labour law perspective, investigating the contribution of workers’ rights and participation in forming due diligence obligations. The successes illustrate the EU’s leadership in mainstreaming sustainability in corporate law and, at the same time, the vulnerability of these advances to economic and political challenges. Academically and policy-wise, the thesis achieves multiple contributions through providing an in-depth legal analysis of the CSDDD and Omnibus Package from both the corporate law, labour law, and international governance studies. Do we need a new corporate responsibility compromise for sustainability in the age of digitalisation? It concludes that the future of sustainability governance in Europe hinges upon uniting accountability and competitiveness, and makes suggestions to ensure that simplification and digitalisation enhances, rather than undermines, corporate responsibility.