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FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr wants to continue blocking the supply chain law
Photo: Bernd Elmenthaler / IMAGO
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr has reiterated his party's determination to bring down the European supply chain law. “We are doing the central concern – namely compliance with human rights – a disservice if we adopt the supply chain directive in its current form,” Dürr told the Funke newspapers on Saturday. "There is a risk that companies will withdraw out of fear of bureaucracy and legal risks."
The short-term postponement of the vote shows that there is not a sufficient majority for the proposal in the European Council. “Other countries also have concerns,” said Dürr.
Because of the FDP's blockade, the adoption of the supply chain law was initially stopped on Friday. The Belgian EU Council Presidency postponed the planned vote among the representatives of the member states at the last minute. Germany should have abstained because the FDP refused to give its consent. As a result, the necessary majority for the regulation was missing.
Dürr rejected the accusation that his party was questioning Germany's reliability in the EU. “Germany raised concerns about the supply chain directive at an early stage and communicated them in writing to the member states over a year ago as part of the Council’s positioning,” he said. “In this respect, I am convinced that our European neighbors can definitely understand that.”
The Federal Minister of Justice later withdrew
For the supply chain law, the traffic light parties had originally enshrined in the coalition agreement that they would advocate for a European regulation. The planned directive is intended to hold companies accountable for child labor, exploitation and environmental pollution in their supply chains. However, in the last few meters, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) found the law to be “unreasonable for small and medium-sized companies” in its current form.
kae/AFP