Brussels, 24/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Following the tragedy in Savar, the European Parliament is urging the Commission to promote the corporate responsibility of European companies abroad and for them to guarantee respect for legal obligations relating to human rights, work and the environment.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution during the plenary session on Thursday 23 May. This follows the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex, the most recent tragic episode in a series of industrial accidents in Bangladesh, which have cost the lives of 1,127 people. Parliament is calling for more measures to prevent these kinds of accidents occurring. European textile distributing companies have been linked to these accidents and they appear to have shown scant regard for social and safety standards.
Bangladesh is the second biggest exporter of textiles in the world, after China. The collapse of the building in Savar, near Dacca on 24 April, brought the worst industrial disaster ever experienced in Bangladesh. Five clothing workshops were located in the building, linked to the Spanish brand Mango and Primark from the United Kingdom. Three levels had been added to the building illegally, which did not respect safety standards.
The resolution adopted on Thursday, points out that Bangladesh, which benefits from access to the EU market, as well as tax and quota exemptions under the “Everything but Arms” initiative, could find these preferences withdrawn if serious and systematic violations of the principles under the different international human rights conventions have been violated. MEPs are therefore calling on the Commission to examine whether Bangladesh has respected these agreements and whether an investigation should be launched in the event of a breach being proved.
Parliament is also demanding that those responsible for the industrial tragedies in Bangladesh be brought to justice and the victims compensated. They underlined the importance of the safe buildings agreement and precautions against fires in Bangladesh, signed by the unions, NGOs and around 40 textile multinationals. It is urging other brands to support these efforts.
Left and Greens kick up a stink. Speaking on behalf of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Veronique De Keyser from Belgium and Bernd Lange from Germany underlined that “abusive working conditions that exist in Bangladesh must stop”. They called on the Commission to open an enquiry into working conditions in Bangladesh and to determine whether they comply with EU requirements on obtaining specific trading agreements. They also condemned the multinationals which refuse to sign a social responsibility agreement aimed at bringing an end to the violation of human rights in the country. De Keyser deplores the fact that the voluntary agreements concluded on 15 May between distributors from the Ethical Trading Alliance (initiative on safety standards and corporate social responsibility) were not supported by US chains and a number of those in Europe, including Metro.
The far left (GUE/NGL) launched a bitter criticism of the “fatal consequences of global capitalism”. Helmut Scholz from Germany insisted that “in Europe we are partly to blame due to our behaviour as consumers, which creates pressure on suppliers' costs. We are also to blame for the way we define trade relations. Human rights and those of workers, as well as environmental protection criteria, must be a precondition for the exporting of goods. We cannot allow unscrupulous companies to flout their responsibility any longer”.
Speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA, Karima Delli from France deemed it “necessary to change European legislation to make parent companies responsible for the indigenous practices of their subcontractors”. She also insisted that “we would kill two birds with one stone by avoiding corporate relocations of production to countries where working conditions are even worse”. Her compatriot, Malika Benarab-Attou, welcomed the support from MEPs for the idea of setting up a “social label”, which would provide certification for a product manufactured by multinationals that respected ILO standards.
France wants imports subject to further social standards. French minister for trade, Nicole Bricq, sent a letter to Commissioner Karel de Gucht this week, calling on him to ensure that social and environmental conditions required by countries (including Bangladesh) exporting to the EU be toughened up. The Generalised System of Preferences, which this country enjoys, is “not interventionist enough” according to Bricq, who is demanding that “this system be accompanied by a social roadmap subject to permanent and operational follow-up”. She is also encouraging the EU to check, before signing free trade agreements with third countries, whether the country in question has signed international agreements on social and environmental standards.
Commissioner de Gucht is calling for swift and concrete action to be taken by the Bangladeshi authorities, failing which they could find themselves subject to a suspension of EU trade preferences. At the beginning of May, the commissioner called for a code of conduct for European and US textile factory customers in Bangladesh, which would require them to respect strict health and safety standards for workers. (EH/transl.fl)