The ministers of the EU Member States spent a small part of their morning at the Competitiveness Council on 7 December discussing the regulation on the banning of products derived from forced labour (see EUROPE 13021/17).
The aim of this regulation, proposed by the Commission in September 2022, is to eliminate from the European market the presence of products made using forced labour in third countries, particularly forced labour by minors.
The text was examined quickly by the Parliament, but the discussion dragged on in the EU Council. The morning’s debate was intended as a policy debate to set out the broad lines of the institution’s position, and focused mainly on the administrative consequences of the regulations and the Commission’s prerogatives in terms of investigations and sanctions.
Two details came up several times during the discussions between the ministers. Many Member States, including the Czech Republic, Greece and Denmark, expressed reservations about the administrative burden that some of the obligations contained in the text could place on Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises.
These companies, they argued, do not need an additional burden imposed on them, which would harm their competitiveness. “The regulation is necessary, but it is not proportionate”, said the Czech minister, who proposed in particular that the text should be coordinated with the directive on corporate due diligence, in order to avoid legislative overload.
The role of the Commission as guarantor of the effectiveness of the text was also raised by the Member States. Many of them want the company to have a ‘leading’ role in the investigation process and the way it is carried out when a product is suspected by the authorities of being the result of forced labour.
“The final decision on whether or not to ban a product must rest with the Commission”, insisted the Luxembourg minister, supported by his Belgian and Greek colleagues.
The Presidency, through the Spanish Minister for Industry, Jordi Hereu i Boher, stated that it had “taken note of the political doubts” expressed by the Member States, while at the same time pointing out the great added value of the regulation, the objective of which has been endorsed by a majority of the representatives of the EU27.
In view of the timetable, the Belgian Presidency, which is due to take office in January, will have the task of driving forward this legislative dossier, which has already been amended and validated by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13273/8). (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)