Pressemeldungen - Unternehmensverantwortung & Lieferkettengesetz

Yes EU can!

EU Supply Chain Act takes final hurdle - paradigm shift in human rights and environmental protection

Press release of the Supply Chain Act initiative in which FEMNET is involved.

Berlin. In the future, large companies in the EU will have to work towards compliance with human rights and environmental standards in their supply chains. The Council of the European Union has adopted the corresponding directive, the so-called EU Supply Chain Act, today. This puts an end to months of political tug-of-war, in which the FDP in particular wanted to bring the project down on the German side. EU Member States now have two years to transpose the project into national law. The Federal Government must adapt the existing German Supply Chain Act accordingly.

“The time for excuses is over: For the first time, the EU requires companies to take responsibility for people and the environment in their supply chains. Today marks a paradigm shift in the fight against human rights violations and corporate environmental degradation. This is a success for civil society and good news for all those working in supply chains under exploitative conditions”, Commented Johannes Heeg, spokesperson for the Supply Chain Act Initiative.

“However, in many places the Directive has fallen short of our expectations. We are particularly saddened that, contrary to the ambitions of the European Parliament, it does not include climate-related due diligence obligations. The regulations on the climate plan are also remarkably lax, despite the fact that their content has been tightened up. It is not at all comprehensible that companies that do not implement their climate plans cannot at least be explicitly sanctioned. The directive should be just one step away from promises and towards action.”Patrick Rohde, Deputy Managing Director of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND).

The EU Supply Chain Act goes beyond the existing German law, in particular in the area of civil liability: In the case of human rights violations that were clearly caused by companies, those affected will be able to claim damages before EU courts in the future. The federal government must tighten up the supply chain law at this point. In other respects, the EU Directive falls short of German law: For example, it only covers companies if they employ more than 1,000 people and have an annual turnover of more than 450 million euros – a threshold that is not provided for in German law.

Dagmar Pruin, President of Bread for the World: “The German government must now swiftly transpose the law into German law and implement it consistently. Together with our global partners, we will maintain civil society pressure and support those affected by human rights violations. If European companies bear responsibility for human rights violations in their supply chains, people will finally be able to bring legal action before European courts.”

An analysis of the differences between the European and the German Supply Chain Act and the resulting necessary measures of the Federal Government has published the Initiative Supply Chain Act today. Since 2019, the civil society alliance of at times more than 140 organisations had successfully campaigned for a German and then for a European supply chain law.

“Over the last five years, the Supply Chain Act initiative has been a key voice for environmental and human rights protection and has set a successful example of civil society campaigning. Together we have achieved a lot - but there is still a lot to do. Therefore, the Supply Chain Act initiative will henceforth promote a good implementation of the Directive in Germany within the framework of the CorA network”, explained Heike Drillisch, Coordinator of the CorA Corporate Responsibility Network.

Further information:

Press contacts:

Johannes Heeg, Spokesperson Initiative Supply Chain Act, Tel.: 0151-10611346, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Press office Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), Tel.: 030-27586109, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thomas Beckmann, Spokesperson Bread for the World, Tel.: 030-652111443, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Heike Drillisch, CorA Corporate Responsibility Network, tel. 0177-3452611, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Supply Chain Act initiative is supported by:

Amnesty International, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Eine Welt-Landesnetzwerke in Deutschland e.V. (agl), Brot für die Welt, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (BUND), Christian Initiative Romero (CIR), CorA Network for Corporate Responsibility, German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), FEMNET e.V., Forum Fairer Handel e.V., Germanwatch e.V., Greenpeace e.V., INKOTA-netzwerk e.V., Bischöfliches Hilfswerk Misereor.V., Oxfam Deutschland e.V., SÜDWIND e.V., ver.di - United Services Union, WEED - World Economy, Ecology & Development e.V., Weltladen-Dachverband e.V., Werkstatt Wirtschaft e.V.

In addition to the 20 supporting organizations, more than 120 other organizations support the alliance.