“Voluntary actions have not brought about large-scale improvements across sectors,” says the draft regulation. That is why the EU is now taking the supply chain problem into its own hands. Proposals for the supply chain law will be presented and discussed tomorrow in Brussels. A protracted debate on the draft law is suspected.
The focus should be on compliance with environmental, climate and human rights standards. Above all, companies should be given more responsibility when choosing their suppliers. Conditions of child and slave labor at suppliers are not tolerated under the regulation, nor are violations of environmental protection. According to the draft law, certain circumstances could even lead to companies being held liable for infringements by their suppliers.
According to reports, the employee threshold for companies to apply the law is 500. In the food, textile and minerals industries, which are among the more sensitive sectors, companies with 250 or more employees may be required to comply. According to current calculations, around 13,000 European companies are affected by the draft law.
The law is not expected to be passed too quickly. Both the EU Parliament and the EU member states are involved. If an agreement is reached, the implementation of EU law is mandatory for all member states, since European law takes precedence over national law.
