A vote on Wednesday 28 February failed to secure a majority of EU member states. The project failed due to opposition from several governments, including Germany. It remains to be seen what will happen next, if and when the project will be negotiated.
“Despite the Presidency’s efforts, the necessary support was not achieved. We must now examine the state of play and see whether it is possible to address the concerns of the member states in consultation with the European Parliament,” writes the German Press Agency (dpa), quoting a statement from the Belgian EU Presidency.
The extended Supply Chain Due Diligence Act has been in force in Germany since this year, but the planned EU directive goes beyond the German law in some respects.
The EU directive would apply to companies with more than 500 employees and a global turnover of more than €150 million. Moreover, the new due diligence obligations would apply not only to the companies themselves, but also to their subsidiaries and supply chains.
Germany abstained from Wednesday’s vote in the committee, which was already known after Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil confirmed Germany’s abstention from the planned vote in the European Council in early February following a lengthy search for a compromise.
Verdi criticises German abstention
“It is not only a disaster for human rights worldwide that Germany abstained in the preliminary vote in the Council of Member States. It is also extremely embarrassing that the EU’s largest member state is now overturning compromises that have already been agreed. This is not the first time that directives that have already been negotiated have suddenly been stopped. The SPD and the Greens are allowing the FDP to do this. Germany is no longer perceived as a reliable partner in the EU because of the repeated 'German Vote’,” explains Verdi leader Frank Werneke.