24/05/24 (Agence Europe) – The long and intense discussions on the directive creating a due vigilance for companies are coming to an end: the EU Council formally adopted the text on Friday 24 May. On his arrival at the Competitiveness Council that morning, the Slovenian State Secretary at the Ministry of the Economy, Matevž Frangež, warned against “actions that could jeopardise” the text at the time of the vote, and called for support for the directive. Of the EU27 Member States, nine abstained: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta and Austria. These are more or less the same delegations that abstained when the members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU voted (see EUROPE 13372/9). (LM)