The EU wants to prevent child and forced labor at suppliers of companies. Preparations for a law are currently underway. However, the Southwest Economics Minister warns of the consequences for companies – and calls for a postponement.
Stuttgart/Brussels (dpa/lsw) – From the point of view of Baden-Württemberg’s Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, the planned European supply chain law should not come into force as early as 2023. “We need a breathing space for our medium-sized companies,” demanded the CDU politician before talks with representatives of the European Union in Brussels on Thursday. The bureaucratic burdens caused by the supply chain law or the EU’s chemicals strategy caused a lot of work in the companies and thus costs and less room for innovations.
In view of the uncertain economic situation, a regulatory break is also needed in the upcoming year 2023. Companies should be able to concentrate on overcoming the crises and not use up even more capacity to meet new legal standards, she demanded.
It is good that the EU wants to help small and medium-sized companies with an announced relief package, she said. However, the package is only planned for the middle of the year and will come very late.
A supply chain law is currently being voted on at the EU level, which is intended to ensure that large companies prevent child or forced labor and environmental damage in their international supply chains. It is not yet clear when the law will come into force. According to a first draft, it could be stricter than the German supply chain law that will apply from 2023. Most recently, however, the EU countries had advocated a weakening.
