Status: 09/15/2022 08:30
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The German government wants to support the law on the supply chain proposed by the EU Commission. It provides stricter rules for companies and their suppliers to protect human rights and the environment.
The traffic light coalition wants to support the EU Commission’s plans for a supply chain law, which are much stricter than the German regulation. “We have agreed in the federal government to push forward a European supply chain law that goes beyond German law,” Development Minister Svenja Schulze told the German publishing network (RND).
The SPD politician welcomed the support of the FDP and stressed that the German position will be the key to success in the EU.
Interested parties can sue companies
With the Supply Chain Law proposed by the EU Commission, companies are obliged to protect the environment and comply with human rights standards along their supply chain.
In contrast to the German law on the supply chain, negotiated during the period of the grand coalition and which will enter into force at the beginning of 2023, the proposal of the EU Commission provides, among other things, that those affected have the right to sue companies if social or environmental standards are violated in their supply chain. Schulze pointed out:
If companies allow child labor or destroy the environment, they must be prosecuted.
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Larger companies should also present strategies on how to align their business model with the climate goal of 1.5 degrees. This climatic aspect only plays a subordinate role in the planned German regulation. “A powerful supply chain law in the world’s second largest economic area will have huge international appeal,” said Schulze with optimism.
Germany is obliged to adapt national law to EU law and should therefore make improvements if EU states and the European Parliament accept the European Commission’s plans.
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