If you work anywhere near EU sustainability, you'll hear three acronyms constantly: CSRD, EUDR, and CSDDD. They're related, they share data, and they're constantly confused, even by people selling software for them.
One-line summaries
- CSRD, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: report sustainability information to standards, with assurance.
- EUDR, EU Deforestation Regulation: prove specific commodities are deforestation-free and legal before trading them.
- CSDDD, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: identify, prevent, and address human rights and environmental harms in operations and value chains.
Side by side
| CSRD | EUDR | CSDDD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Directive (transposed nationally) | Regulation (directly applicable) | Directive (transposed nationally) |
| Core obligation | Disclose | Due diligence per product, then submit statement | Due diligence process across value chain |
| Who | Large companies (scope narrowed by Omnibus) | Operators and traders placing in-scope commodities on the EU market or exporting them, any size | Very large companies (scope narrowed by Omnibus) |
| Trigger | Company size | Product type | Company size |
| Key data | ESRS datapoints, emissions, workforce | Plot geolocation, lot traceability, risk assessment | Value chain risk mapping, actions, grievances |
| Output | Annual sustainability statement | Due diligence statement per shipment | Due diligence policy, actions, reporting |
The important difference: trigger
- CSRD and CSDDD are triggered by company size.
- EUDR is triggered by what you sell. A small trader importing coffee is in scope. A huge software company isn't.
That's why EUDR caught many smaller companies off guard.
Where they overlap
- Supply chain data: EUDR's traceability helps CSDDD's environmental due diligence and CSRD's value-chain disclosures.
- Deforestation and land use: relevant to CSRD's E4 (biodiversity), CSDDD environmental impacts, and EUDR directly.
- Supplier engagement: all three need data from suppliers. One supplier portal beats three.
For software teams
If you're building compliance tooling:
- Shared entity model: companies, sites, suppliers, products, plots.
- Shared evidence store: documents, certificates, satellite checks.
- Regulation-specific outputs on top: CSRD datapoints, EUDR statements, CSDDD reports.
Deep dives:
- EUDR Explained for Software Teams
- CSRD Data Pipelines in 2027
- Architecture of an EUDR Traceability System