Finance Minister Christian Lindner does not see Germany isolated in the dispute over an EU supply chain law. There is great relief among his European colleagues “that this directive is not coming,” said the FDP leader on Thursday on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in São Paulo (Brazil). “A majority doesn’t want it.” Contrary to what is sometimes said in Germany, the following applies: “We are anything but isolated.”
The Belgian Council Presidency announced on Wednesday that there was still not a sufficient majority among the EU member states for the planned supply chain law. It is now unclear whether the project will have to be renegotiated again. The federal government does not expect another attempt before the European elections in June.
The law is intended to hold large companies accountable if they profit from child or forced labor outside the EU. Larger companies must also create a plan to ensure their business model and strategy are compatible with the Paris Agreement on climate change. The EU version would go beyond the supply chain law that already applies in Germany.
In the traffic light coalition, the FDP insisted that Germany not agree. Lindner considers the regulation to be poorly made and irreparable due to bureaucratic burdens and legal uncertainty. Politicians from the SPD and the Greens, however, support the project. The disagreements led to an open exchange of blows in the coalition.
Representatives of low-income countries also thought a break for reflection was right, Lindner argued at the G20 meeting. Many fear that the planned supply chain regulation would prevent investments in low-income countries. (dpa)