MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) expressed concern about the delay and lack of information on the European Commission’s forthcoming proposal on sustainable corporate governance on Tuesday 25 January. They criticised the European Commission for having postponed the presentation of this text three times since last autumn. In March 2021, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report asking the Commission to look into the matter (see EUROPE 12675/10).
Members of the INTA Committee are particularly interested in combatting products made with forced labour, to be included in the text. Many asked the Director General of the European Commission’s DG Trade, Sabine Weyand, whether her services intended to propose two separate texts: one setting out the framework for sustainable corporate governance (or due diligence) and another banning the placing on the market of products made with forced labour.
“I cannot prejudge the college decisions”, replied Sabine Weyand, three weeks before the planned presentation of the text on sustainable corporate governance.
However, she has repeatedly expressed her support for a single legislative instrument: “My concern is that if we separate sustainable governance and marketing prohibition, we’ll have to launch a new process including impact assessment. I want to avoid that. I want this to come forward together, as quickly as possible”.
Scope
Several MEPs are concerned that the number of companies covered by the forthcoming legislation is too large. The EPP believes that the “administrative burden” on businesses, especially small ones, should be limited.
However, MEP Barry Andrew (Renew Europe, Ireland) believes that not too many companies, including SMEs, should be exempted. “We hear that the regulation would potentially only apply to companies with more than 5,000 employees, that would be unacceptable”, he said.
The Director General of DG Trade considered that a hybrid approach was possible on this issue. In her view, the obligations of this text should be proportionate to the size of SMEs. As for the risk of letting through small businesses that might sell products of forced labour, “specific rules for certain high-risk sectors can be included”, she said.
She highlighted that it was necessary to be “pragmatic” and to move forward quickly on this work. “What is important is to get a system up and running, collecting experience and adjusting in the light of experience”.
The Commission’s proposal on this subject is expected to be presented on 15 February. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)