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Ship at the port of Hamburg: What happens next with the supply chain law?
Photo: Henning Angerer / Hoch Zwei Stock / Angerer / IMAGO
According to SPIEGEL information, the EU Council Presidency has drawn up a new proposal for the supply chain law.
It will be put to a vote among member states on Friday.
Belgium currently holds the Council Presidency.
The federal government had previously opposed the law.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (both FDP) reject the plan, which leads to an abstention in Brussels, which is de facto equivalent to a no.
The SPD and the Greens are in favor of approval.
The aim of the EU supply chain law is that no goods should be sold in the EU that were produced using child labor or that cause environmental damage during their production.
(You can read more about the reasons for the FDP’s position here.)
In a vote by the EU member states at the end of February, the supply chain law failed to achieve the necessary majority.
In addition to Germany, other countries have also refused their consent, such as Italy.
The new proposal, which SPIEGEL has received, significantly accommodates the project's critics.
The regulation should no longer apply to companies with more than 500 employees and a turnover of one and a half million euros, but only to companies with 1,000 employees and a turnover of three million euros.
The FDP had complained that the EU project was putting too much of a burden on medium-sized businesses.
The proposal also softened the question of civil liability and removed risk sectors as a category.
The FDP had also strongly criticized both.
The federal government had actually no longer expected that there could be a breakthrough in the negotiations before the European Parliament elections in June.
According to government circles, the 128-page document is currently being examined and would like to take a position on it as soon as possible.