Competition Policy and Social Sustainability

Scope and objectives

On 14 March, the European Economic and Social Committee's NAT and INT Sections, the Fair Trade Advocacy Office and the Global Competition Law Centre of the College of Europe organise an online conference to continue the debate on how joint sustainability initiatives can be competition law compliant.

Invited speakers :

  • explore the various aspects of sustainability, from environmental to social sustainability such as the payment of living incomes and wages, and how they have been translated – or not – into competition law.
  • explore existing and forthcoming guidelines, remaining areas of legal uncertainty, and how to reach a coherent approach for competition law in times of corporate due diligence.
  • present recent sustainability initiatives considered and/or implemented by companies, and explore the issues faced, providing practical advice as to how to structure and manage a competition law compliant sustainability initiative.

Context

Modern-day global supply chains are often characterised by imbalances of power:

  • an unfair sharing of value, and
  • the continuous struggle to produce cheap goods.

This puts a huge burden on the environment and on people's livelihoods, through a race to the bottom.

Competition law has had a chilling effect on reshaping global supply chains. Practitioners and enforcers are considering how competition law can take into account sustainability concerns and then also contribute to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

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