Article 3: Definitions

Virginie Rouas and Ben Vanpeperstraete

Chapter 3 in Sustainable Business in Europe, 2026, pp 34-53 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Article 3 of the CSDDD defines key terms used throughout the Directive and describes how the Commission can amend the Annex by adopting delegated acts. This Commentary discusses the various definitions contained in Article 3(1), focusing on their alignment with international standards and how they relate to specific CSDDD provisions. It then explains the purpose of delegated acts under Article 3(2) and how they can amend the CSDDD's Annex. The definitions under Article 3(1) serve various purposes: guiding the Directive's national transposition and implementation, ensuring consistency with concepts defined in other EU instruments, specifying the CSDDD's personal and material scope, and delimitating companies’ due diligence obligations. However, some concepts are defined differently from international standards. This lack of coherence represents a missed opportunity to align with existing business and human rights standards and strengthen environmental and rightsholder protection. Nonetheless, when transposing the CSDDD, Member States can go beyond the CSDDD's current definitions to better align them with current international standards. Delegated acts under Article 3(2) can broaden or refine the definitions of adverse human rights and environmental impacts, affecting the CSDDD's normative scope. Future delegated acts may reference other international human rights and environmental instruments, such as specific ILO instruments on occupational health and safety and some of the instruments mentioned in Recital 33.

Keywords: Definitions; Delegated Acts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035326891
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035326907.00014 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23047_4

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().