A successful gamble for the European Parliament, which wanted to gather a large majority in favour of a compulsory and ambitious mandatory due diligence for companies at EU level. The draft legislative initiative report drawn up by Lara Wolters (S&D, Netherlands) was adopted on Wednesday 10 March, by 504 votes in favour, 79 against and 112 abstentions.
The day before, the vote on the 28 amendments tabled to the report (see EUROPE 12674/6) broadly confirmed the general line adopted almost unanimously by the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) at the end of January (see EUROPE 12645/4).
“We have drafted ambitious rules that guarantee fair products for consumers, that enhance protections for workers, that improve access to justice for victims and that take a major step forward for the environment”, said Wolters.
The text calls on the EU to oblige companies to identify and address human rights, health, environmental and good governance risks arising from their activities throughout their supply chain.
Parliament also calls for the introduction of a civil liability mechanism and legal remedies for victims.
On trade, MEPs want to go further and also call for a ban on the import of products linked to serious human rights violations, such as forced or child labour.
Civil society, which has mobilised a great deal on this subject, has widely welcomed the adoption of the report.
“While compromises were made, and some details are still to be resolved, there is no doubt that if translated into legislation, this report would shift the current corporate model and positively rebalance the relationship between European companies, people and the planet”, said Richard Gardiner, Global Witness Campaign Manager, in particular, after the vote.
With this text, Parliament believes it is delivering a turnkey directive to the Commission and hopes that the legislative proposals to be presented in June 2021 will live up to its ambitions. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)