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EU: Friends of the Earth Europe reflects on Omnibus I negotiations & rollbacks of key sustainabilty legislation
"EU Due Diligence, How we lost Justice", February 2026
The EU could have held companies accountable for harming their workers, polluting the environment and violating human rights by implementing powerful corporate sustainability legislation. For a while this seemed possible when the Commission introduced its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which was adopted in 2024. It could have led to tangible protections for people and the climate but instead it was reopened and watered down in 2025, and formally adopted into law by the Council of the EU in 2026. This is the full story of the EU Due Diligence law that was lost after it was weaponised for political gain by polluters and politicians.