The European Parliament adopted by 503 votes in favour, 6 against and 4 abstentions the motion for a resolution by Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany) calling for a ban on forced labour products on the European market on Thursday 9 June. The European Commission is due to present its legislative initiative in this respect in September (see EUROPE 12897/6).
The adopted resolution outlines what MEPs believe the legislative instrument should look like (see EUROPE 12954/22). “One day soon, customs officers in Le Havre or Rotterdam will seize cargo ships from China or elsewhere and block the products of forced labour before they reach our shops and cupboards”, said Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D, France)
The rapporteur, Bernd Lange, put a series of questions to the European Commission. In addition to the legal basis of the future text, he would like to know how the Commission intends to support SMEs, fight against the circumvention of rules, compensate workers and communities affected by forced labour, carry out investigations or guarantee the traceability of products resulting from forced labour.
One of the challenges of the future tool is to define or not the geographical areas where forced labour is considered to be practised and to be able to ban products from this area. MEPs believe that the future instrument should be able to target products from particular regions when forced labour is subsidised by the State. Several elected representatives referred to Xinjiang in China.
The European Commission has promised to present a legislative act after the summer, but has not given details on the nature of the tool and its scope. A call for contributions from the public is open until 20 June on this subject.
MEPs condemn repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang
Also on 9 June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Xinjiang. It states that “credible evidence about birth prevention measures and the separation of Uyghur children from their families amount to crimes against humanity and represent a serious risk of genocide”.
A few weeks ago, a consortium of journalists revealed Xinjiang police files that document the systematic repression of the Uyghur community.
MEPs call on the Chinese authorities to allow independent journalists, international observers and investigative bodies access to the internment camps. They also call for the Heads of State and Government to address human rights violations in Xinjiang at the next European Council.
Parliament also calls on Member States and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to swiftly adopt additional sanctions against senior Chinese officials and others identified in Xinjiang police files.
See the resolution on forced labour products: https://aeur.eu/f/20i; and on the situation in Xinjiang: https://aeur.eu/f/20h (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)