Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) believes an agreement in the coalition dispute over the EU supply chain law is still possible. Habeck said on Wednesday evening at a citizens’ dialogue of the ‘Editorial Network Germany’ in Leipzig with a view to the law that there was justified concern that the “whole thing” would go wrong. “But of course there is also a corridor of reason that you can set up the whole thing in such a way that you can take your worries away.” But he cannot say whether it will be possible to get there.
If Germany abstains due to the resistance of the FDP in the traffic light coalition, the entire EU supply chain law could fail. Since there is no apparent majority among the member states, a planned vote at EU level was postponed. The EU supply chain law is intended to hold large companies accountable if they profit from child or forced labor outside the Union or if their production causes environmental damage there. A national supply chain law has been in force in Germany since 2023, but the EU project goes beyond this.
Habeck said that under the planned law, German plaintiffs, such as civil law organizations, should also be allowed to sue German companies if they have committed labor law violations, for example in Bangladesh. This could result in a wave of lawsuits. The German economy is rightly afraid of this. But the question is solvable. “That’s why I think we can talk about it again.” The advantage of an EU supply chain law would be that there would then be a level playing field for all companies in Europe. Habeck also warned that other countries could lose trust in Germany. Germany must organize majorities. (dpa)