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Swedwatch

Swedwatch is an independent, non-profit research organisation striving to empower rights holders and to promote responsible business practices.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Adnan Dibrani (Member of the European Parliament)

15 May 2025 · Omnibus I, CSDDD och CSRD

Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

7 Mar 2025

Strengthening public procurement for human rights and sustainability in the EU Public procurement in the EU accounts for 14% of GDP (2 trillion annually) and holds immense potential for fostering sustainable and ethical business practices. However, significant human rights and environmental risks persist in supply chains. The ongoing revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive offers a crucial opportunity to embed stronger sustainability requirements and ensure contracting authorities can effectively address these challenges. Key recommendations by Swedwatch: 1. Align EU procurement laws with human rights standards EU procurement legislation should align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and OECD Guidelines to enforce responsible business conduct. By making human rights requirements mandatory in procurement policies, authorities can prevent forced labor, uphold social protections, and create a level playing field for ethical businesses. 2. Make sustainability requirements mandatory and legally sound Current legal ambiguities regarding social and environmental criteria create inconsistencies across EU Member States. A 2023 European Court of Auditors report found that voluntary sustainability considerations have had limited impact. To ensure effectiveness, the revised directive must clarify legal provisions and integrate mandatory sustainability criteria into procurement processes. 3. Establish due diligence as a core procurement requriement Public procurement should require human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) as a legally binding contract condition. This would align with the current EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and shift procurement from compliance-driven social audits to meaningful stakeholder engagement with affected workers and communities. Suppliers should also adopt climate transition plans in line with the Paris Agreement, with Member States offering resources to facilitate enforcement. 4. Increase transparency in supply chains Effective monitoring of suppliers' sustainability performance depends on reliable data, yet many companies withhold critical supply chain information. To improve transparency, Swedwatch recommends: - Mandatory data disclosure by contractors on operations, subsidiaries, and business partners. - An EU-wide registry for sharing information on contractors' human rights records. - A shared blacklist to prevent non-compliant companies from bidding. - Aggregated data on high-risk sourcing countries (e.g., textile procurement from Pakistan) to strengthen due diligence and risk prevention. 5. Empower public procurers as sustainability advocates Public authorities can drive positive change by requiring suppliers to conduct due diligence, monitor compliance, and engage in ethical supply chain management. However, many lack the expertise and resources needed to implement sustainability requirements effectively. Strengthening procurement agencies through capacity-building programs, knowledge-sharing platforms, and sustainable purchasing practices would help embed sustainability principles into procurement decisions and could also help their suppliers as contracting authorities can have capacity building sessions for them was well. In concluation, a stronger EU Public Procurement Directive can transform public procurement into a driver of sustainability and human rights protection. By making due diligence mandatory, increasing supply chain transparency, and equipping procurers with the necessary tools, the EU can ensure public spending aligns with ethical and environmental standards.
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Meeting with Anna Cavazzini (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl and

6 Mar 2025 · Public procurement directives reform

Meeting with Nikolaj Villumsen (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

1 Dec 2023 · Public procurement directive

Meeting with Ilan De Basso (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Nov 2023 · Möte om arbetsmarknadsfrågor

Meeting with Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

16 Dec 2022 · Forced Labour Ban and CSDD

Meeting with Alice Kuhnke (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for opinion)

2 Dec 2022 · Due diligence & public procurement (staff level)

Meeting with Pär Holmgren (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Dec 2022 · Due diligence & public procurement (staff level)

Meeting with Heidi Hautala (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

1 Dec 2022 · Due Diligence & sustainable public procurement

Meeting with Malin Björk (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Nov 2022 · Public procurement and Coporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Response to Evaluation and revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation

27 Apr 2021

Swedwatch continues to call on the European Commission to ensure that the new revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation to protect and respect fundamental human rights to a safe, clean, and sustainable environment. Promotion of affordable medicine without an adequate framework to control and mitigate human rights and environmental risks not only contradicts the main objectives of the European Green Deal but also the current European Parliamentary resolution on the Corporate Due Diligence and Corporate Accountability, which is based on the ‘do no harm’ principle. Affordable medicines for European citizens should not come at the cost of human lives and widespread environmental degradation where pharmaceutical ingredients and drugs are manufactured.
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Response to Climate change mitigation and adaptation taxonomy

17 Dec 2020

Swedwatch is pleased to be provided with the opportunity to submit stakeholder feedback on the draft delegated regulation of the EU classification system for green investments. Swedwatch would like to call the Commission’s attention on the urgency of taking rapid, resolute and science-based climate policy measures to mitigate the worst effect of climate change. At this regard, policy action within sustainable finance should be based on sound scientific evidence and on a general level follow the recommendations of the Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance, which was composed by a variety of stakeholders, including investors, academia and civil society. Swedwatch would like to raise the following points of concern with regard to the drafted delegated regulation: 1. The emissions threshold of 100 g CO2e/kWh for power generation: while the drafted regulation confirms the threshold suggested by the Technical Expert Group, the requirement to enact increasingly stringent emissions thresholds (until reaching 0 g CO2e/kWh in 2050), has not been received in the draft delegated acts. Considering recent developments which have seen the costs of low-emission energy sources fall dramatically, and in light of the EU goal to achieve net-zero emissions in 2050, it is utterly important (and only logical) to mandate increasingly stringent emissions requirements for power generation. It is of course of utmost importance that this threshold is not removed from the regulation. 2. The inclusion of bioenergy in the taxonomy: the inclusion of all forest biomass as bioenergy fuel is highly problematic and, in our view, not in line with current knowledge on the impacts of biofuel. Research has shown that biofuels are far from climate neutral and can in some cases be as carbon intensive as certain fossil fuels. In addition, bioenergy crops carry high risk with regard to the protection of biodiversity and to several human rights aspects. For example, Swedwatch research in Sierra Leone has shown how biofuel projects can adventure food security and communities’ livelihoods, as well as impact local water sources. 3. The inclusion of livestock production in the taxonomy: it is problematic that an activity which constitutes a major source of greenhouse gas emissions is included in the taxonomy. We call on the Commission to exclude this activity from the taxonomy of sustainable activities, until more stringent requirements ensuring compliance with the "do not significant harm" principle are adopted.
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Response to Industrial pollution - revision of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register

26 Oct 2020

Swedwatch welcomes the initiatives of the European Commission to improve the regulation on the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) as a mean to empower EU citizens with access to environmental data to make informed decisions on environmental matters. However, we are deeply concerned that the current initiative is limited in strengthening regulatory and reporting mechanisms of industrial pollutions within the EU, and does not restrict businesses from outsourcing environmental pollution to countries that are currently not signatories and parties to the Aarhus Convention. We are also concerned that confidentiality provisions of EC No 166/2006 (concerning the Establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC ) enable businesses to withhold disclosure of critical environmental information that are of public interest.
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Meeting with Isabelle Magne (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström), Maria Asenius (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström) and

28 Mar 2017 · Responsible supply chains and how to increase transparency