Companies must consult relevant stakeholders at the stages of the due diligence process that remain listed in Article 13(3): gathering information on impacts, developing prevention and corrective action plans, and deciding on the last-resort measures.
The requirement, in our words
Companies must consult relevant stakeholders at the stages of the due diligence process that remain listed in Article 13(3) (gathering information on impacts, developing prevention and corrective action plans, and deciding to suspend a relationship among them); consultation is no longer required for the stages in former points (c) and (e), and the consultation is limited to the narrowed definition of stakeholders.
Why it matters
The amendment narrows the consultation points and removes two stages. The remaining points are the ones where stakeholder input changes a decision. A company that consulted only at the policy stage now has to consult at the action-plan stage and at the last-resort decision.
What changed
The old Article 13(3) listed more stages, including points (c) and (e). The replacement deletes those points and keeps the remaining consultation stages.
What to do
- Map each remaining stage to the stakeholders consulted and the record kept.
- Keep minutes, submissions and attendance for each consultation.
- Check that the consultation reaches affected people, not only industry bodies.
Evidence to have ready
| Category | Artefact |
|---|---|
| Stakeholder engagement | Stakeholder consultation plan that links each remaining stage to the stakeholders consulted |
| Stakeholder engagement | Consultation records (minutes, submissions, attendance) for each stage |
| Stakeholder engagement | Stakeholder list drawn up against the revised definition |
Common failures
- Consultation run at only one stage and treated as covering the whole process
- Consulted groups fall outside, or omit those inside, the revised stakeholder definition
Dates
Transposition by 26 July 2028; application from 26 July 2029.
The question to test
Is there a consultation record for the action-plan stage and the last-resort decision, not only the policy stage?
Cross-references
A4-10 Potential impact last resort · A4-11 Actual impact last resort
Source
Article 4(10), amending Article 13(3) of Directive (EU) 2024/1760; OJ L 2026/470, 26 February 2026; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026L0470. Our statement of the duty, read from the Official Journal text and the held control record, not the instrument verbatim.
Not legal advice; does not certify. A reading of the duty and the evidence commonly sampled, not a substitute for the Official Journal text, the national transposing measure or your auditor's judgement.