Not an exception, but a pattern? The EU Omnibus I and corporate accountability in transnational governance

Abstract

While the EU Omnibus I, and particularly its amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), has largely been framed as a significant rollback of recent corporate accountability efforts, this paper situates it within the longer history of attempts to regulate corporate power in transnational governance. Drawing on critical legal and political economy scholarship, it traces the evolution of corporate accountability debates from the consolidation of the public/private divide and postcolonial efforts to establish a New International Economic Order (NIEO), to the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and mandatory human rights due diligence. In doing so, the article argues that the Omnibus I is not an exceptional development, but part of a recurring pattern in which regulatory initiatives are contested and reconfigured through geopolitical shifts, the framing of corporations as key drivers of economic growth and the influence of corporate actors in rule-making processes. In light of this, it also problematises recent corporate accountability proposals, highlighting a persistent paradox: corporations are framed both as the source of harm and as actors expected to deliver solutions, despite ongoing questions about their legitimacy and unwillingness to assume such roles. Ultimately, the question of corporate accountability remains unresolved not only at the level of legal design, but also in relation to the underlying distribution of economic and political power that law is expected to regulate.