The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) and the Institute for Sustainability, Corporate Law and Reporting (INUR) at the University of Cologne are conducting joint research into corporate due diligence. Michael Lysander Fremuth, Scientific Director of the LBI-GMR and Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights at the University of Vienna, and Camilla Haake, PostDoc at the LBI-GMR, from the programme line “Sustainability, Development, Economy & Social Affairs” (NEWS) welcomed their Cologne colleagues Barbara Dauner-Lieb, Director of the INUR and Professor Emeritus at the University of Cologne, and Stefan Kingler to Vienna on 16 and 17 December 2024. The exchange focussed on the recently completed joint study on “Audits and certifications in the context of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations of companies” as well as current developments in the design and use of audits and certifications in the supply/value chain. The starting point of the project is the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which came into force in July 2024.

In the summer of 2024, the LBI-GMR and INUR researchers involved in the research project had already discussed legal issues surrounding the use of audits and certifications in the corporate context at a first work meeting at the halfway point of the one-year research project. At their second working meeting, the researchers discussed, among other things, the content of companies’ human rights and environmental due diligence obligations under the CSDDD, the necessary content of audit and certification processes, the possibilities and potential risks of using artificial intelligence in audit and certification procedures, and the possibilities and challenges of holding auditors and certifiers liable for human rights violations. The researchers referred to the key findings of the study, which has been developed over the past few months and is scheduled to be finalised by the end of 2024. A publication of the study and a public presentation of the study results are planned for early 2025. Further information will be available on our website in due course.

The research project “Audits and certifications in supply/value chains”, funded by the Vienna Chamber of Labor, examines the use of audits and certifications as instruments to support companies in complying with their due diligence obligations in accordance with the CSDDD. The aim of the project is to develop an independent scientific study.