Abstract
Peace is the fundament of the European Union (EU). The fundamental role of peace is expressed in the Treaty on European Union. As the Treaties also clearly express, sustainable development is fundamental to achieving the Union’s goals and an overarching objective in its own rights.
Europe has a history of colonisation, which influences the EU’s possibility to contribute to peace and to global sustainability. Criticism of what is denoted ‘neocolonialism’ in EU’s relation with low-income countries outside of the EU has repeatedly been raised. In this chapter, my concern is the neocolonialism through the globalised activities of European businesses, which undermines the possibilities for a sustainable development.
I analyse the EU’s law and policy initiatives to regulate business for sustainability, in light of the EU’s overarching Treaty goals of sustainability. This emphasis is chosen for three reasons: Firstly, regulating business and finance for sustainability has been on the EU agenda since 2018 and continues to be strongly emphasised. Secondly, regulating for sustainability is crucial as business-as-usual is a key driver for the extreme unsustainabilities of our time. Thirdly and consequently, an analysis of the EU’s efforts in this context can help us see whether the EU is securing a sustainable peace.
With the backdrop of war in Europe, my question is accordingly whether these EU initiatives are sufficient to mitigate the extreme unsustainabilities of our time. I concentrate on EU policy initiatives concerning the regulation of finance, corporate governance, and products – including product design – which all hold the possibility for transforming business towards sustainability.
The published version of the chapter is available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4983698