Welcome to the website accompanying EU Global Value Chain Regulation – A Practical Guide. The purpose of this website is to provide updates on the evolving legislation covered in the book, as well as links to additional resources.

The book maps an emerging field of EU law: the regulation of global value chains through the application of environmental and labour standards along supply chains connected to the EU internal market. It examines the EU's approach through a number of recently adopted instruments, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), the Forced Labour Regulation (FLR), the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as well as the EU's growing body of sustainable product requirements, including the Batteries Regulation and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). These instruments illustrate the new tools being developed by the EU to embed sustainability standards and to influence activities beyond its territory: due diligence, information and traceability obligations and product requirements. The book also considered the implementation, enforcement and liability challenges arising from this new regulatory approach, and its possible future direction.

That future direction has, however, shifted track. Over the past year, changing political priorities, concerns about competitiveness and regulatory burden, and an increasingly complex geopolitical environment have prompted a significant reassessment of the EU's sustainability agenda. The result is not simply a set of amendments to individual instruments, but a broader recalibration of the EU’s framework for global value chain regulation. Some instruments described in the book have been revised, others “simplified”, and some have been delayed. 

At the same time, the EU’s legislative agenda suggests that the EU will continue to regulate along value chains connected to its internal market to achieve its policy objectives. In fact, the balance between sustainability objectives, economic competitiveness, strategic autonomy and supply-chain resilience has become more rather than less important from a policy perspective. The purpose of this website is, therefore not only to update the book, but to track the continuing evolution of the EU approach to global value chain regulation and its impacts on international trade. 

This website provides details of amendments to the legislation and new cases for each relevant chapter, with a particular focus on the changes introduced through the various ‘Omnibus packages’. It also includes a consolidated list, with links, to the amending legislation adopted by the European Union to date, together with the latest guidance published by the European Commission on an instrument-by-instrument basis. 

The information provided on this website is made available in the author’s personal capacity and does not reflect the position of the European Union or its institutions. 

Josephine Norris

September 2026