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The FDP's concerns caused the EU supply chain law to falter again.
© Markus Scholz/dpa
There was actually already a political agreement, but concerns from the FDP caused the project to falter again.
A planned vote on the EU supply chain law has been postponed.
Brussels - There is currently no sign of a majority among the EU states in favor of a European supply chain law.
A vote on an agreement previously negotiated by negotiators was spontaneously postponed, as the Belgian EU Council Presidency announced.
This is also because in Germany, FDP-led ministries in the federal government announced shortly before the vote that they did not want to agree to the project.
The FDP member of the Bundestag Carl-Julius Cronenberg said that other EU countries had also expressed criticism of the project.
The EU Supply Chain Act aims to hold large companies accountable if they profit from child or forced labor outside the EU.
Larger companies should also be more obliged to comply with the Paris climate goals to limit global warming.
Germany already has a supply chain law, but the EU project also goes beyond the German requirements.
This means it applies to more companies and provides more opportunities to take legal action against companies that do not comply with the requirements.
A week ago, the FDP-led ministries of justice and finance opposed the plans and thus caused a dispute within the traffic light coalition.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) clearly criticized the FDP, saying Germany's reliability in the EU was at stake.
She said: “If we break our word once given in Brussels, we lose trust.”
Scholz has to speak out
MEP Anna Cavazzini described the postponement as a tragedy.
“The FDP not only forced Germany to abstain, but also put pressure on other countries not to agree to the EU supply chain law,” said the Green politician.
The Chancellor must now speak out.
The Green Party parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge said in Berlin that the vote on such an important directive as the EU supply chain law was in jeopardy due to a lack of approval from Germany, which was “extremely bitter”.
The President of the German Institute for Economic Research spoke out strongly in favor of an EU supply chain law on Thursday.
Germany will suffer significant economic damage and Europe will suffer irreparable political damage if the supply chain law does not find a majority, said Marcel Fratzscher.
With regard to Germany abstaining, he said that this would be “not only a moral failure, but in the long term it could above all damage the open German economy and its most important brand essence, the reputation of its products “Made in Germany”.
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However, business associations recently spoke out against the EU supply chain law.
In a letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), they warned that companies could withdraw from Europe and that companies could be confronted with unfounded lawsuits and sanctioned with excessive penalties.
The letter was signed by the presidents of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the Central Association of German Crafts (ZDH).
dpa