Reporting as a Means to Protect and Promote Human Rights? The EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive

This article analyses the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (2014/95) and argues that, while non-financial reporting is advocated as contributing to corporate social accountability, the Directive’s primary focus is on economic considerations such as stimulating investment. The way the requirements relating to human rights are laid out in the Directive reduces its potential to generate a practice of effective reporting, especially given its divergence with the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights. The effectiveness of the Directive is further complicated by the due diligence and reporting laws that certain Member States have enacted, as the Directive does not interact with these legislations. These key issues regarding the Directive are framed in the overall uncertainty over the effectiveness of reporting as a means to materialise human rights due diligence.