European Commission’s Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
Yesterday, the European Commission adopted a long-awaited Proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. It aims to “set out a horizontal framework to foster the contribution of businesses operating in the single market to the respect of the human rights and environment in their own operations and through their value chains, by identifying, preventing, mitigating and accounting for their adverse human rights, and environmental impacts, and having adequate governance, management systems and measures in place to this end”. Importantly, the proposal covers the company’s own operations, their subsidiaries and their value chains (indirect and direct business relationships). It covers large companies (500 employees, €150 million net turnover worldwide) and additional companies operating in defined high impact sectors. I am sure many supply chain managers, not just in Europe, will have the 70-page document on their nightstand as required reading for the next few days.
Personal Predictions for Supply Chain Management in 2022
The year 2022 has been going on for quite a while. I see the following topics at the top of the agenda in both academia and business: First, the last few months have been characterized by a large number of supply chain hiccups. Missing chips in the automotive industry have become a symbol of this development. Therefore, supply chain resilience is more important than ever. Second, a lot is currently happening in the European Union in terms of supply chain laws. Stricter rules on supply chain liability are expected shortly, and several EU countries have recently pushed their legislation forward. Third, many companies are transforming their linear into circular supply chains, see the new DHL report entitled Delivering on Circularity. Finally, many companies are also concerned with net-zero goals – and more importantly with action plans for these goals. Many of these plans explicitly involve the supply chain. Although I am a bit late, I wish you a good supply chain year 2022.
