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EU flags in front of the Europa building in Brussels
Photo: Arne Immanuel Bänsch/dpa
The vote on the Europe-wide supply chain law has been postponed. This was announced by the Belgian Council Presidency. After Germany announced that it would not agree to the law in Brussels on Friday, several countries had doubts. There was no consensus in the traffic light because of the FDP's resistance - so an abstention was necessary.
In view of this development, a majority in favor of the law is no longer considered certain, it was said. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) called the law in its current form “unreasonable for small and medium-sized companies.” In the FDP's view, the negotiators of the Council of Member States exceeded their mandate in the negotiations with the European Parliament and made too many compromises.
The law is intended to make companies across Europe responsible for child labor, exploitation and environmental pollution in the production of their goods. The law would cover companies based in the EU and their parent companies with at least 500 employees and annual sales of at least 150 million euros worldwide. The same should apply to companies that do not have their headquarters in one of the Member States but generate an equally high turnover in the EU.
Smaller companies with at least 250 employees and a turnover of 40 million euros would have to comply with the regulations if at least 20 million euros of this are generated in the textile industry, agriculture and food production or the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials. Companies would be subject to fines for violating the law of up to five percent of their global sales. National authorities should be responsible for monitoring and investigations, coordinated by the EU Commission. Victims of human rights violations or environmental pollution should have the right to compensation.
Companies that comply with the supply chain law would also have an advantage in public tenders in the EU. This is intended as an additional incentive.
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mbe/mfh/AFP