ENFORCING RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT WITH THE EU CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTIVE

27/05/2024
Update

On 24 May 2024, the European Parliament approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), making it a law that mandates responsible business conduct. These requirements transform existing international soft laws into enforceable mandates, impacting even those businesses indirectly involved through value chains, leading to increased sustainability-related demands and obligations.

The Directive makes clear in the Annex that private security will be under particular scrutiny:

  1. “The abuse of [the right to life] includes […] private or public security guards protecting the company’s resources, facilities or personnel causing the death of a person due to a lack of instruction or control by the company”;
  2. “The prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment […] includes […] private or public security guards protecting the company’s resources, facilities or personnel subjecting a person to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment due to a lack of instruction or control by the company”.

Annex 6 of the CSDDD outlines working conditions that companies must adhere to, including fair and adequate wages, decent living standards, safe and healthy working conditions and reasonable limitations on working hours. These provisions align with ICoCA’s efforts to uphold ethical standards and protect the rights of workers in the private security industry.

As stated in #42, “in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, […] human rights abuses are more likely to occur and to be severe. Companies should take this into account when integrating due diligence into their policies and risk management systems to ensure that codes of conduct and processes put in place to carry out due diligence are adapted to conflict-affected and high-risk areas, in a manner that is consistent with international humanitarian law, as laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their additional protocols.”

The CSDDD emphasises the importance of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) in ensuring effective implementation and compliance with its requirements. Given the presence of private security providers (PSPs) across the value chains of all sectors targeted by the EU CSDDD and as the only MSI with the unique mandate of conducting human rights due diligence on private security, especially in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, ICoCA looks forward to supporting effective implementation and compliance with the EU CSDDD, as well as contributing to its further development and specific guidance in the years to come.

In the meantime, if your company contracts PSPs, ICoCA’s Procurement Guide provides a human rights due diligence 101 on PSP contracting. ICoCA Member and Affiliate companies are subject to ICoCA’s due diligence policies and procedures. Learn more about the benefits of contracting ICoCA Member & Affiliate companies and encourage your security providers join ICoCA to gain access to training resources and be subject to ICoCA’s due diligence.