The EU’s due diligence law is causing discontent among Austrian industry associations and conservative politicians, prompting Vienna to abstain from voting on Thursday (1 December), provoking strong reactions from social and green activists.
Supply chain law is the more common term for the EU’s new rules that will enforce certain human rights and environmental standards among the suppliers of large EU companies – a prospect Austrian companies do not welcome.
On Thursday, EU countries agreed on their position on the law ahead of negotiations with the European Parliament – Austria abstained.
“It is still unclear what is happening,” explained Labour Minister Martin Kocher of the conservative ÖVP.
Austria’s industrial association IV noted significant concerns with the law: forcing companies to supervise their entire supply chain went far beyond their means – the German supply chain law, far less ambitious than its EU cousin, had already caused Austria’s largest construction company STRABAG to withdraw from Africa.
“In its present form, however, the planned EU supply chain law is still half-baked,” explained Austria’s chamber of commerce WKÖ, adding that overseeing entire supply chains added significant amounts of bureaucracy, especially for small- and medium-sized companies.
Activists criticised Austria’s abstention. “After a months-long consultation process, in which civil society was also involved, Austria’s abstention amounts to a farce,” stressed Bettina Rosenberger on behalf of a human rights campaign supported by “Südwind.”
The social democrat SPÖ noted that it was “regrettable” that Kocher failed to voice strong support for protecting human rights and the environment in global value chains during his statement to his EU counterparts.
(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.de)
Source: euractiv.com
