It is no longer just a few Member States that are challenging the provisional agreement on the directive introducing corporate due diligence, but also MEPs from the EPP, ECR and ID groups. During a debate on Tuesday 12 March in Strasbourg, the elected representatives of these three groups took turns reiterating the arguments against the directive, namely that the reporting obligations are too onerous for companies, but also that the philosophy of the text, in their view, seeks to “punish” companies rather than encourage best practice.
“Let’s not regulate when our competitors are innovating. Respect for human rights will not be achieved with new legislation, but rather by respecting existing legislation”, said Ivan Štefanec (EPP, Slovak).
The same is true of the ID group, which takes a positive view of the text’s rejection by Member States. “Let’s set objectives for the next legislature. We could do things differently, by not having standards as specific as these. Let’s reward those who make a commitment and not penalise all companies”, said Marco Campomenosi (ID, Italy).
However, the text’s rapporteur, Lara Wolters (S&D, Netherlands), and the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, clarified that the directive did not impose any new reporting obligations on companies. “The Members of Parliament who have asked me questions should sometimes read the text submitted to them. There is no new reporting mechanism in the text. We are working with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive [...]. This has been noted by all those with whom we’ve had a serious debate on the substance of the matter”, said Mr Reynders.
He also expressed the hope that an agreement on this text could be reached in the next few days so that the directive could be adopted during this legislature.
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib, whose country holds the presidency of the EU Council, tried to reassure the rapporteur that the text would be approved by Member States: “I understand your disappointment. It's not over yet, even if the clock is ticking. We are committed to finding a solution”, she told MEPs.
The Belgian Presidency of the EU Council proposed a revised text to the EU27 in the hope of obtaining a qualified majority, but had to postpone the vote several times at the level of the permanent representatives of the Member States to the EU due to lack of sufficient support (see EUROPE 13366/12). At this stage, it plans to put the text to a vote on Friday 15 March. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)