Last night, the EU Commission, Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the Omnibus I package, which is intended to officially "simplify" the EU Supply Chain Directive and other sustainability rules. Misereor human rights expert Armin Paasch criticises the agreement as a "genuflection to Trump at the expense of human rights, the environment and the climate". He calls on the European Parliament and the German government to reject the outcome of the trialogue:
"It is shameful that the EU wants to increase its economic competitiveness at the expense of seamstresses, indigenous communities, farm workers and children on cocoa plantations. Today's trilogue agreement is not a simplification, but an orgy of cuts: The EU is removing any climate obligations for companies and the EU-wide civil liability rule for human rights violations from the Supply Chain Directive. It is lowering the maximum level of fines from five to three per cent of companies' global net turnover. In addition, only 150 companies would be covered in Germany. 95 per cent of companies that already implement the Supply Chain Duty of Care Act would thus be released from their responsibility for human rights and the environment.
The agreement is a knee-jerk reaction to the Trump administration, which, together with fossil-fuelled energy companies such as Exxon Mobile, Shevron and TotalEnergies, insisted on the abolition or maximum undermining of the Supply Chain Directive. The European People's Party (EPP) and its chairman Manfred Weber had also called for further deterioration in human rights and climate protection in the trialogue in order to secure the approval of far-right political groups: a crashing demolition of the firewall with devastating consequences for the people who suffer along the supply chains, for sustainability and for democracy in Europe.
In the planned vote in the European Parliament on 16 December, MEPs must now show attitude and moral courage and vote no in order to defend the frequently invoked European values. The German government must also reject this result in the Council, which fundamentally contradicts the official German negotiating position on the omnibus package as well as the coalition agreement. The latter prohibits any cooperation with right-wing extremist parties at all levels."
