Observatory for companies/SMEs (‘one stop shop’ on due diligence)

To set up a European “Sustainability Due Diligence one-stop-shop” targeted to European businesses, and SMEs in particular, which provides information, practical tools and training material to help them understand and effectively implement obligations and activities related to sustainability due diligence stemming directly or indirectly from relevant EU law, in particular the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and its national transposition. Through this one-stop-shop, companies will be able to access sustainability due diligence-related information existing at the EU and Member State level and benefit from support tools related to the six steps of value chain human rights and environmental due diligence , including tools for supply chain risk assessment, value chain transparency and traceability, information on the use of industry and multi-stakeholder schemes and tools for their assessment. The Sustainability Due Diligence one-stop-shop will be closely linked and as far as possible integrated into the Your Europe Business portal.

Specifically, with the creation of this Sustainability Due Diligence one-stop-shop the Commission aims to:

1. contribute to achieving the due diligence and sustainability objectives stemming from the horizontal Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (hereinafter ‘CS3D’) and other related sectoral EU legislation with due diligence requirements for companies in the single market
2. mitigate and/or offset the administrative challenges for companies falling in the scope of due diligence legislation and on SMEs in the value chains of such companies, noting that SMEs are indirectly affected by provisions of such legislation.
3. raise awareness and help build capacity for EU businesses , and in particular SMEs, through dedicated supporting measures to help them face the impact of sustainability due diligence requirements and to remain competitive at EU and global level.

The principal target group of the action are companies, and SMEs in particular, present in the European Union and the European Economic Area, although other actors including business support organisations and policymakers might also benefit from the information and tools included in the Sustainability Due Diligence one-stop-shop.