Due diligence in EU product rules – Policy Briefing

The European Commission is currently preparing its Sustainable Products Initiative, to make goods and services “fit for a climate neutral, resource efficient and circular economy, reduce waste and ensure that the performance of frontrunners in sustainability progressively becomes the norm.”

The Sustainable Products Initiative might include due diligence, market incentives and possibly a product passport. It is expected to include “social aspects throughout the product lifecycle as part of the sustainability principles and requirements.”

This paper sets out how social and environmental due diligence criteria can best be integrated in the sustainable products initiative, to ensure that not only companies, but also individual products are subject to sustainability due diligence requirements and that sustainable products progressively become the norm, rather than the exception.