The European Model Clauses (EMCs)
The European Model Clauses (EMCs) are a set of model clauses designed to align with the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which entered into force in July 2024. The EMCs are being developed by the Responsible and Sustainable Supply Chains Working Group and are expected to be finalized in 2026.
The EMCs aim to assist companies in meeting the requirements set out in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and other international human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) standards, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct.
Designed to promote effective collaboration on HREDD, the EMCs set out obligations for the parties to work together to identify, prevent, address, and remedy adverse impacts. They include clauses that can support companies’ HREDD processes, including on information sharing, complaints procedures, stakeholder engagement, human rights remediation, responsible purchasing practices, and responsible exit.
The European Working Group for Responsible and Sustainable Supply Chains (the European Working Group) is composed primarily of European legal experts from practice and academia.The first version, EMCs 1.0, is expected to be published in Q4 of 2026, following an extensive consultation process coordinated by RCP with generous support from the GIZ Initiative for Global Solidarity (IGS).
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The EU CSDDD and Contracts
The CSDDD identifies contracts as important preventive and corrective measures that must be appropriate and effective for addressing adverse HRE impacts. The recitals of the CSDDD further specify that contracts must not be used simply to transfer due diligence obligations to business partners, such as suppliers.* Thus, the CSDDD requirements with respect to contracts are very much in sync with the core principles of Responsible Contracting.
While the EMCs were not developed at the EU Commission's request, they will hopefully serve as a key reference point for the European Commission as it prepares the guidance on model contractual clauses contemplated under Article 18 of the CSDDD. The Commission’s guidance and the EMCs are distinct instruments that are being developed independently, but the European Working Group is cooperating with the Commission to ensure alignment.
The EMCs seek to improve the effectiveness of contracts as tools for HREDD by moving away from a risk-shifting, one-sided, perfect compliance model of contracting toward a shared-responsibility model where the parties cooperate, on an ongoing basis, to prevent and, when needed, remedy adverse human rights and environmental (HRE) impacts.
*Article 18 on Model Contractual Clauses and the accompanying Recital 66 contemplate clarify that the forthcoming European Commission guidance on contracts "should aim to facilitate a clear allocation of tasks between contracting parties and ongoing cooperation, in a way that avoids the transfer of the obligations provided for in this Directive to a business partner and automatically rendering the contract void in case of a breach. The guidance should reflect the principle that the mere use of contractual assurances cannot, on its own, satisfy the due diligence standards provided for in this Directive."
For more information:
For background information on the EMCs, you may refer to this video and accompanying slides.
For analysis of the content of mandatory due diligence laws with respect to contracts, see:
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Oxford Business Law Blog: Moving Toward Shared Responsibility: How the EU's CSDDD and Omnibus I Reimagine Contracting for Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (May 2026) — an updated account of the CSDDD's contractual requirements in light of Omnibus I
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RCP Policy Brief: What the EU CSDDD Says About Contracts (July 2024)
Latest News
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August 25 — RCP announced a new collaboration with UN Global Compact Network Germany: a three-part webinar series on Responsible Procurement covering "Responsible Procurement and Shared Responsibility" (Oct 22), "Responsible Purchasing Practices" (Nov 11), and "Responsible Contracting" (Dec 2), with RCP Director Sarah Dadush speaking at the December session.
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August 12 — RCP submitted its response to the European Commission's public consultation on CSDDD implementation guidelines, calling for shared responsibility and human rights and environmental due diligence to be embedded in international supply contracts.
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July 22 — RCP launched its latest tool, the Responsible Contracts in the Cobalt Industry guidance, developed in collaboration with the Cobalt Institute.
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May 1 — RCP published a new analysis of the CSDDD and contracting in light of Omnibus I on the Oxford Business Law Blog: Moving Toward Shared Responsibility: How the EU’s CSDDD and Omnibus I Reimagine Contracting for Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence. Also available as a PDF.
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April 27 — RCP Director Sarah Dadush and Senior Advisor John Sherman co-authored an essay for Shift's series marking the 15th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), titled, From Social Norm to Legal Practice: Fifteen Years of Integrating the UNGPs into Business Law.
Events
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August 11 — RCP Lead European Legal Advisor Daniel Schönfelder joined "Making Sustainable Contracts Work in Practice," a WorldCC Foundation panel in the APAC Summit's virtual program, alongside Anne Ketola of Tampere University and Ro Coroneos of Praxis ESG, moderated by Gitika Makker of Nexdigm, discussing practical tools for embedding sustainability into contracts, including RCP's toolkit. Watch the recording.
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June 30 — RCP Director Sarah Dadush joined Observatoire de la Responsabilité Sociétale des Entreprises (ORSE) and PwC Société d'Avocats in Paris for the launch of ORSE's updated ESG regulations guide, discussing the shift from risk-transfer contracting to cooperation-based approaches reflected in the CSDDD.
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June 2 — RCP Director Sarah Dadush facilitated "Contracting for Sustainability," a workshop at the 2026 Annual Conference on Legal Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing, co-organized by NYU School of Law's Grunin Center and the Impact Investing Legal Working Group, drawing over 40 participants.
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May 19 — Senior Advisor Ben Rutledge spoke at the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative (SVI) General Assembly in Paris, joining industry members and value chain actors for a session on governance, procurement, and collective action in the vanilla sector.
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May 14 — Senior Advisor Ben Rutledge presented RCP's Responsible Contracting in Spice Supply Chains Guidance at the Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI) General Assembly 2026 in Murcia, Spain, attended by nearly 100 delegates from around 50 organizations.
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