Pressemeldungen - Unternehmensverantwortung & Lieferkettengesetz © Initiative Lieferkettengesetz 15 March 2024 Despite German abstention: EU states vote for greatly weakened supply chain law Press release of the Supply Chain Act Initiative, in which FEMNET is involved Berlin. A greatly weakened version of the EU Supply Chain Act has cleared the central hurdle: The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Council of the European Union (COREPER) today voted in favour of the important human rights project. This means that the directive can be adopted before the European elections in June. For weeks and until the end, the FDP had tried to bring down the law. The EU had actually already found a compromise in the trilogue procedure in December 2023. With a further compromise proposal that has been greatly undermined, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union today succeeded in securing a qualified majority of member states for the EU Supply Chain Act. FDP Justice Minister Buschmann also rejected this compromise proposal, which is why Germany abstained from the vote. "We are relieved that the EU has made it clear today that human rights and climate protection are more important than corporate profits at any price. After the long wrangling, the law has unfortunately been greatly weakened and only applies to a few companies – it is shameful that the federal government itself could not agree to this version. In doing so, the FDP has not only duped the SPD and the Greens, but also acted against the vast majority of the population," comments Johanna Kusch, spokeswoman for the Supply Chain Law Initiative. Compared to the trilogue version, the cuts in the new legislative proposal are enormous. For example, the law is not to apply in full until 2032 - and even then only for companies with 1000 or more employees with an annual turnover of more than 450 million euros. This means that the EU Supply Chain Act only applies to around 5,500 companies in the EU and thus only to a third of the companies that were originally supposed to be covered. There were also further restrictions on the due diligence obligations for the downstream supply chain. These concern, for example, the use of pesticides or the disposal of waste. "We are disappointed that the project has been undermined in such a way. Chancellor Olaf Scholz could have prevented this – if he had put the FDP in its place and stuck to the compromise that had already been reached. Instead, he has blindly accepted that established EU procedures were ignored and that Germany is no longer considered a reliable negotiating partner in the EU," criticizes Johanna Kusch. In the coming weeks, the European Parliament will have to position itself on the new compromise text so that the law can be passed before the end of this legislative period. Press contact: Johannes Heeg, Sprecher Initiative Lieferkettengesetz, Tel.: 0151-10611346, E-Mail: 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, Association of One World Country Networks in Germany (agl), Bread for the World, 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., Episcopal relief organization Misereor. V., Oxfam Germany e.V., SÜDWIND e.V., ver.di - United Services Union, WEED - World Economy, Ecology & Development e.V., Weltladen-Dachverband e.V., Werkstatt Ökonomie e.V. In addition to the 20 supporting organisations, more than 120 other organisations support the alliance.
