(Berlin/Aachen, 24 January 2024). With its announcement that it intends to stop the EU Supply Chain Act, the FDP is going against the positions that Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has taken within the German government and in the EU over the past two years. This is shown by new research by the civil society alliance "Initiative Lieferkettengesetz". The media outlet Correctiv is also currently reporting on attempts by the business lobby to stop the EU Supply Chain Act at the last minute and the conspicuous parallel about-turn by the FDP. After years of negotiations involving the German government, the EU Parliament and member states reached a compromise on the EU Supply Chain Act in December, which the FDP is now single-handedly calling into question.

"With its zigzag course on the EU Supply Chain Act, the FDP is proving to be an unreliable coalition partner - and is massively damaging Germany's credibility in the EU in the process. The Federal Chancellor should reject this election campaign manoeuvre by the FDP and approve the Supply Chain Act in the EU Council," demands Johanna Kusch, spokesperson for the Supply Chain Act Initiative.

"Many German and European companies are in favour of the German supply chain law and are explicitly and publicly calling for a stricter EU law. It is also the order of the day to make supply chains more resilient and promote rules-based trade," says Yasmin Fahimi, Chairwoman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB).

"The Federal Chancellor must not allow the commitment to sustainability and human rights in the economy to be set back. I hope that the Chancellor will commit to protecting people and the environment in order to put an end to any speculation about Germany abstaining. Man-made disasters such as the dam collapse in Brumadinho and the building collapse in Rana Plaza with hundreds of deaths must not be allowed to happen again," emphasises Pirmin Spiegel, Managing Director of Misereor.

Major contradictions in content

The research published today by the Supply Chain Act Initiative not only reveals gross misrepresentations of facts in the FDP party conference resolution, but also shows that the FDP did not introduce the demands it has now put forward into the trialogue negotiations at any point.

• Example 1: The FDP Executive Committee is now criticising the liability regulation in the EU Supply Chain Act and warning of legal uncertainty for companies. The FDP-led Federal Ministry of Justice was largely responsible for drafting this regulation
• Example 2: The FDP Executive Committee regrets the lack of liability relief for companies that rely on industry initiatives and certifications ("Safe Harbour"). However, Minister Buschmann never brought this demand into the trilogue negotiations from September onwards.
• Example 3: The FDP Executive Committee criticises the scope of application across the entire value chain as "completely unrealistic". Yet Minister Buschmann, together with Ministers Hubertus Heil and Robert Habeck, has been in favour of this from the outset. The fact is: according to the trilogue agreement, the scope of application is even defined much more narrowly than the German government had demanded.

These and other examples presented in the research demonstrate major contradictions in terms of content between the positions put forward in the negotiations and the current statements of the FDP. The Supply Chain Act Initiative therefore described the FDP Executive Committee's decision as a "purely tactical election manoeuvre". With a light projection to the Federal Chancellery on Friday, the alliance called on the Federal Chancellor to take a stand and approve the EU Supply Chain Act. Misereor and the DGB are among the supporting organisations of the alliance, which brings together more than 140 human rights, development and environmental organisations, trade unions and church actors.

Further information:

• Briefing "Credibility overboard: The FDP's U-turn on the EU Supply Chain Act" by the Supply Chain Act Initiative
• Photos of the protest action by the Supply Chain Act Initiative at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin on 19 January 2024
• Research by Correctiv on lobbying against the EU Supply Chain Act and the role of the FDP
• FDP Executive Committee resolution on the EU Supply Chain Act of 15 January 2024
• Agreement of the European Council and Parliament on a compromise on the EU Supply Chain Act of 14 December 2023

Contact:

• Supply Chain Act Initiative: Johannes Heeg, Spokesperson, Tel: 0151-10611346, e-mail: presse@lieferkettengesetz.de
• DGB: Nora Neye, press spokesperson, phone: 0151-68842016, e-mail: nora.neye@dgb.de
• Misereor: Ralph Allgaier, press spokesperson, phone: 0241-442529, e-mail: ralph.allgaier@misereor.de

The Supply Chain Act Initiative is supported by:

Amnesty International Germany, Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Eine Welt-Landesnetzwerke in Deutschland e.V. (agl), Brot für die Welt, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (BUND), Christliche Initiative Romero e.V. (CIR), CorA-Netzwerk für Unternehmensverantwortung, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (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 e.V., Oxfam Deutschland e.V., SÜDWIND e.V., ver.di - Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, WEED - Weltwirtschaft, Ökologie & Entwicklung e.V., Weltladen-Dachverband e.V., Werkstatt Ökonomie e.V.

In addition to the 20 supporting organisations, a further 120 organisations support the alliance.