Image: JOHN THYS (AFP)
The EU states were unable to agree on the EU supply chain law on Friday and postponed the associated vote. This was announced by a spokesman for the Belgian Council Presidency on the X platform. Austria and Germany, among others, had declared in advance that they wanted to abstain, which amounted to a blockade. As was heard from EU circles, the vote planned for today has been postponed to February 14th.
- Read here: EU supply chain law: coalition divided, Kocher wants to abstain
The EU Supply Chain Act is intended to hold large companies – with more than 500 employees or in risk sectors with more than 250 employees – accountable if they profit from child or forced labor outside the EU. Larger companies must also create a plan to ensure that their business model and strategy are compatible with meeting the Paris climate goals to limit global warming.
“The fact that the vote on the supply chain directive has now been postponed shows that, in addition to Austria, numerous other countries also have concerns about the current draft,” said the responsible Economics Minister Kocher in a written statement to the APA. “We have called for further negotiations and welcome the return to the negotiating table.” Austria will also contribute constructively to further discussions and make suggestions as to how the objectives of the directive could best be achieved from Austria’s perspective.
In order for the text to be adopted, a qualified majority (55 percent of the member states or 15 of 27 or member states representing 65 percent of the population) would be necessary in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU member states.
Divided opinions in Austria
What could happen between now and February 14th so that states like Austria would still agree remained unclear at lunchtime on Friday. In Austria, the ÖVP enforced abstention against its small coalition partner the Greens after Germany’s abstention became known. This in turn is based on the resistance of the smallest government party there, the FDP.
Employers’ associations in Austria were worried about too much bureaucracy, even if they said they supported the goals of the EU supply chain law. The union and the Chamber of Labor always spoke out in favor of strict regulations. Such an approach offers added value for the local economy and that of the Global South.
- Read here: AK appeal to Kocher: “Agree to supply chain law compromise”
Upper Austria’s VP state governor Thomas Stelzer and his deputy, FP chairman Manfred Haimbuchner, spoke out against the law. The FPÖ calls for Austria to say no to the supply chain law, not just abstain.
The SPÖ demands implementation. The NEOS want to advocate for a “supply chain law without bureaucratic chains”: “A supply chain law must not place medium-sized companies in particular in bureaucratic chains. This endangers prosperity and jobs and, last but not least, further increases inflation for consumers,” said Secretary General Douglas Hoyos.
- Read here: Human rights and the bureaucracy monster
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