EU ‘기업 지속가능성 실사지침’의 법적 쟁점에 대한 고찰 - 프랑스 실사의무화법 위반 사례를 중심으로 -

As globalization progresses rapidly, transparency and sustainability of the supply chain among companies’ production activities have attracted attention as very important values for all members of society, including consumers, investors, and the government. Therefore, companies’ demands for strengthening risk management in the aspect of ESG, such as environment, society, and governance, are spreading. Furthermore, the legislation of each country and international organization that accelerates this is rapidly progressing. Since the adoption of the OECD ‘Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’ in 1976, international legislation has continued, and in March 2022, the EU announced the ‘Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence’. In addition, before the EU’s legislation, France had already enacted and implemented the ‘Duty of Vigilance’ in 2017, and lawsuits are underway for a number of cases that violate due diligence obligations related to human rights, the environment, and labor. Unlike the objection procedure of the existing OECD ‘Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’, France’s ‘Duty of Vigilance’ can be evaluated to have greatly improved its effectiveness by greatly strengthening the legal binding force and sanctions of the procedure. In other words, if companies previously relied on voluntary performance and compliance with the ESG supply chain, strong legal sanctions are now involved in violation of the obligation. Therefore, companies must now understand their survival and check and comply with the due diligence obligations under the domestic implementation law of each EU member state in accordance with the EU’s ‘Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence’ in advance. In addition, Korea should also actively participate in the international trend of strengthening ESG in the supply chain, and in order to proactively respond to it, we should also consider domestic legislation.