What is expected to be a routine vote on EU due diligence legislation has been postponed, hinting at difficulties ahead.
advertisementNew EU rules requiring companies to check their supply chains for environmental and social issues have been postponed, with Germany and Italy deliberately abstaining and threatening to block the measure altogether.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive was politically agreed with MPs in December, but a regular vote by ambassadors to support the deal was abruptly canceled today (9 February), putting obstacles in the way. suggested that there is.
Diplomatic sources have confirmed that Italy intends to abstain from the law, effectively blocking it along with other skeptics such as Germany and Austria.
Due diligence laws require companies to verify their suppliers’ carbon footprint and use of forced labor, but business groups fear this is a bridge too far.
A spokesperson for the Belgian government, which currently chairs the EU’s group of member states’ council, confirmed plans to delay the vote in a post on X.
Niels Timmermans added that the vote would be moved to a date yet to be announced. This is likely due to concerns that the plan will not be able to muster a majority to meet the government’s requirements.
Germany took a U-turn on the law earlier this week, following previous attempts to block car emissions standards that would halt production of internal combustion engines by 2035, but faced criticism from Brussels and Berlin. There is.
As reported, there was some turmoil over today’s meeting of diplomats, but Belgium appeared yesterday to be optimistic about its chances of reaching an agreement.
Sven Giegold, the Green Party’s state secretary for Germany’s Economy and Climate Ministry, said this morning that the due diligence law “believes it will contribute to a level playing field” and insisted he supports a single European standard.
Berlin was “forced to abstain” after the pro-business Freedom Party FDP, one of the three current coalition parties, announced its opposition, Giegold told reporters.
In a post on X earlier this week, Lara Wolters (Dutch Socialist Democratic Party), who led the European Parliament negotiations, said Germany’s U-turn “puts politics ahead of people and the planet.” This is a view shared by many activists.
“Victims of U-turns include those working in exploitative conditions, those who have lost their homes to illegal evictions, and those who have become ill due to environmental pollution,” Hannah Storey, Amnesty International’s business and human rights policy adviser, said in a statement. This will include people who have become Ahead of the vote, the law said it would ensure big companies “are not profiting from human suffering.”
For Uku Lileveri, head of sustainable fiscal policy at the green lobby WWF’s European office, last-ditch attempts to block the law are a “short-sighted, populist ploy based on a flawed rationale. It looks like it’s being moved.”