The Extraterritorial Scope of European Corporate Due Diligence

Abstract

The requirement for multinational companies to respect human rights and the environment has been widely developed in various institutional fora. In the European Union (EU), while it is mainly sectoral due diligence obligations that are currently imposed on companies operating on the internal market, with regard to their international supply chain, recent initiatives are moving towards the development of a general and more effective due diligence system.

In this context, the question of the spatial scope of EU law arises, insofar as the duty of care is intended to cover global corporate behaviour. The future EU legal framework on due diligence is intended to apply to operators or activities outside the internal market. The extraterritorial jurisdiction of EU law is thus affirmed. The research aims to examine its legitimacy by placing the duty of care in its overall regulatory and methodological context.

The study shows that the EU should not be afraid of extraterritoriality but, on the contrary, should ensure the effectiveness of its extraterritorial legal framework, particularly when it comes to supporting the Union's fundamental values on a global scale. Corporate duty of care is a key illustration of the EU’s leading position on the international stage, at the crossroads of business regulation and the rule of law.

Keywords: corporate due diligence, duty of care, human rights, environment, EU law, extraterritoriality, private international law, EU jurisdiction, conflict-of-laws, international competence, sustainability