2024-02-15 19:58:25
Kraus-Winkler: Return to the negotiating table for a strong supply chain policy
Vienna (PK) – Economics Minister Martin Kocher recently announced that Austria would abstain from the so-called EU supply chain law. In the EU subcommittee of the National Council today, both the SPÖ and FPÖ submitted a request for a statement on this – with opposing positions. From the SPÖ’s point of view, it is important to prevent the supply chain law from failing at the European level. This must be expressed by the Federal Government in all votes by agreeing to the European Supply Chain Act. The FPÖ, in turn, called on Justice Minister Alma Zadić, who had consistently spoken out in favor of the supply chain law at the European level, to reject the planned directive proposal. The SPÖ had previously requested that the issue be placed on the agenda of the subcommittee at short notice.
Neither motion received a majority in the committee. So only the SPÖ itself voted for the SPÖ motion, and only the FPÖ voted for the FPÖ motion. Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli (ÖVP) emphasized that the aim of the supply chain directive is important, but that the instruments go overboard in terms of practicality and proportionality. That’s why she supports Kocher, who wants to go back to the negotiating table. Stephanie Krisper (NEOS) also spoke out in favor of the goals of the supply chain law, but not its bureaucracy. The NEOS would advocate a different supply chain law than the present one, for example with the possibility of “white lists”, and would therefore reject both applications. Petra Steger (FPÖ) sees a “sudden change of opinion” in the ÖVP. The FPÖ said from the start that the supply chain law was damaging to the location and the economy and was a “bureaucratic monster”. It would also increase inflation and cause companies to migrate to third countries and thus miss the target.
Jörg Leichtfried (SPÖ), on the other hand, sees a historic opportunity for human rights and climate policy being missed if the ÖVP now pleases the “super-rich large corporations”. From his point of view, SMEs, consumers and farmers in particular would benefit from the directive if the “giants” finally had to adhere to these rules. Ewa Dziedzic (Greens) also said that SMEs would be largely excluded from the directive and would benefit. In their view, it would be time to balance the interests of large corporations and human rights demands. The Greens are therefore anything but happy that the departments might not come to an agreement, said Dziedzic. She hopes that they will return to the negotiating table.
State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler, representing Economics Minister Kocher, emphasized in the committee that she would advocate for a strong but implementable supply chain guideline. The current draft cannot be implemented, especially since many obligations and liability risks are passed on to small and medium-sized companies, as they are often suppliers to the “big companies”. Since Austria’s economy consists of 99% of SMEs, she sees the danger that they will be forced out of the supply chains worldwide. It is therefore a matter of returning to the negotiating table in order to achieve improvements and a workable solution.
EU supply chain law and different positions of the departments
The proposed Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, as the Supply Chain Act is officially called, aims to oblige large companies to respect human rights and environmental protection along the entire supply chain.
Die Policywhich is shared with the current one Council document which was debated today, should generally apply to companies with 500 employees or more and an annual turnover of €150 million. For certain “high-impact sectors” such as the textile industry or agriculture and forestry, the rules should apply to those with 250 employees and a turnover of €40 million. In addition, companies not based in the EU should also be allowed to operate if they have a net annual turnover of more than €150 million in the EU or companies with an EU net annual turnover of more than €40 million if they have at least €20 million .€ in one of the “high-impact sectors”.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the proposed directive contains obligations for companies regarding actual and potential negative impacts on human rights and the environment in relation to their own business operations, the operations of their subsidiaries and the activities of global value chain partners with whom the company has a business relationship. In addition to sanctions and administrative penalties, it also lays down rules for civil liability for violations of these obligations. There will also be an obligation for large companies to create a “climate plan”.
While Justice Minister Alma Zadić “expressly welcomed” the proposal in the EU subcommittee of the National Council in October last year, Economics Minister Martin Kocher recently expressed concerns. The Ministry of Economic Affairs states that it supports a uniform EU approach to the creation of binding regulations and supports the objectives of the present directive proposal. They are also convinced that the integration of corporate responsibility standards into the core business of companies and risk-based due diligence in the value chains promotes the resilience and success of Austrian companies and thus strengthens their competitiveness. However, some points are of particular importance for Economics Minister Kocher with regard to a potential agreement. For example, he is in favor of a “safe harbor clause” as well as once morest disproportionately high penalties and “excessive liability regulations”. It is also important to prevent potentially negative development policy effects caused by the withdrawal of companies from certain third countries. (Continued EU Subcommittee) mbu
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