After months of wrangling, the European Parliament approves an anti-looking away law

• Anna Sleutels

  Editor Brussels

The European Parliament has approved a law that will hold large companies responsible for mistakes in their supply chains. Europe is therefore the first continent to impose strict rules on abuses in the supply chain of companies.

This “anti-snooping law” obliges large companies to take action when environmental or human rights rules are violated somewhere in their chain. This concerns problems in areas such as child labor, deforestation, forced labor and climate damage.

Member states and large companies have opposed the law in recent years. There was a political agreement in December, but a number of EU countries still backed away from it. After a vote among the ministers involved, France, Germany and Italy dropped the law last month.

MEP Lara Wolters (PvdA) is the driving force behind the anti-looking away law. According to her, there has been a lot of lobbying behind the scenes from the big companies and the opposing member states: “In December we finally reached an agreement after 16 hours of negotiations. Then France, Germany and Italy suddenly had to do everything differently. The big companies have put pressure on President Macron in France and Prime Minister Meloni in Italy, which led to this kind of feint at the very last minute.”

In order to achieve the agreement that has now been reached, adjustments had to be made to bring the three countries on board. For example, the number of companies to which the law applies has been reduced: first, companies with more than 500 employees would have to comply with the law. This now applies to companies with more than 1,000 employees.

The law will also only come into effect later than intended, in 2028 instead of 2027.

Before the law was put to the vote, Wolters made a final appeal to her fellow parliamentarians. “We are making a fundamental choice: do we accept that people on the other side of the world make our T-shirts under unsafe conditions and for a few euros a day?”

She is pleased that the law has now been passed despite the adjustments: “Europe will now be the first continent to set a hard standard against turning a blind eye to abuses in the chain of companies.”

The VVD voted against the anti-viewing law, much to Wolters’ irritation: “It is hypocrisy at its finest. For years the party was full of talk about the need for a European law, but when it comes down to it, the VVD simply opts for the corporate profits on the backs of the most vulnerable.”

The VVD is not the only one who voted against, JA21 is also opposed. “This law, which is supposed to make the economy more sustainable, saddles companies with expensive rules. The losers are the companies and customers, they now have to pay extra for their products,” says Michiel Hoogeveen, JA21 MEP. Employer organizations MKB Nederland and VNO-NCW previously spoke out in favor of the European law.

Before the law can enter into force in 2028, EU countries will still have to formally agree to it. That will happen before the summer.