AEIP publishes its position paper on the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
In view of the ongoing discussions on the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive AEIP adopted today its position and invites EU stakeholders to consider the points raised, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the social protection funds and the protection of the interests of members and beneficiaries.
AEIP welcomes the initiative on the CSDDD, and underlines that our members are strongly committed and support socially and environmentally responsible business practices to combat adverse impacts on human rights, society, the environment and the climate.
Nevertheless, in relation to the current text of the proposal we would like to stress that given the diverse landscape of social protection funds across Europe but also that the vast majority of these institutions are small and medium size, the proper implementation of the principle of proportionality throughout the Directive is of utmost importance.
Additionally, we wish to underline that pension funds and health and provident funds are inherently different from other financial market entities in the sense that they are ‘not-for-profit’, they play an important social role in adequate social protection, they do not have any shareholders and most importantly do not sell products, since employees mainly benefit from a mandatory affiliation to the pension or health and provident scheme based on their employment relationship and are not customers.
Furthermore, AEIP argues for a specific regime for institutional investors and asset managers and emphasises that uniform consistent due diligence is instrumental for the proper functioning of social protection funds.
As part of its policy activities AEIP has shared the position paper with EU decision-makers and will further engage into discussions.
To read the full AEIP position on the CSDDD please see here.