After more than two years of negotiations, the EU Council of Ministers today finalised the European Supply Chain Act. Misereor welcomes the decision as a paradigm shift towards sustainability in European foreign trade policy. At the same time, Misereor is calling for a swift and ambitious implementation of the EU directive into German law.
Misereor had been campaigning for the EU directive for over three years together with the Supply Chain Act Initiative. "Today's decision is a great success for European civil society, but above all for people affected by displacement, exploitation, repression or environmental destruction," explains Pirmin Spiegel, Managing Director of Misereor. "They now have a real chance of redress before civil courts in Europe if European companies violate their due diligence obligations and cause damage as a result." In addition, the participation rights of affected parties and civil society organisations in the implementation of due diligence obligations as well as the environmental aspects would be significantly strengthened compared to the German Supply Chain Act.
"Swift and ambitious transposition of the EU directive is necessary"
Pirmin Spiegel also criticises the German government's abstention in the Council today and the FDP's recent call to suspend the German Supply Chain Act. Spiegel also rejects the "streamlining" of the German law proposed by Economics Minister Robert Habeck. "What is urgently needed is a swift and ambitious transposition of the European directive into German supply chain law." The EU directive provides a minimum standard that must be implemented in full.
The Misereor Managing Director is also calling for the current scope of application of the German law to be retained for companies with 1,000 employees or more. The additional turnover threshold of an annual turnover of over 450 million euros provided for in the EU directive would result in the number of companies covered in Germany being reduced from the current 4,500 to between 800 and 1,500, depending on estimates. "To subsequently release over 3,000 companies from their responsibility for human rights and the environment would be politically and legally problematic," says Spiegel. Art. 1.2. of the EU Directive explicitly prohibits the weakening of existing protection for the environment and human rights.
Further information:
Briefing: EU supply chain law - guard rail for sustainable development
