For the third time, the EU Commission has postponed the draft of the planned European supply chain law. The draft will therefore no longer be published this year as planned, but rather in March 2022 at the earliest. No reasons are given for the postponement. It is believed that the intervention of the “Regulatory Scrutiny Board” is responsible for this. This is a body of dubious democratic legitimation within the Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-making-process/regulatory-scrutiny-board_de

Numerous European civil society organizations and trade unions have therefore written an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. There it says among other things:

“Despite your promise to come up with a ‘solid and balanced’ proposal in 2021, press reports have warned us that the SCG initiative is being further delayed. It is unacceptable that such an important new law, which can help millions of people demand justice against human rights abuses and help protect our environment and the climate, be postponed for the third time.

We are also deeply concerned about the total lack of transparency about the reasons for this new delay. The uncertainty about the fate of the legislation is very harmful to people suffering from irresponsible corporate behavior and to the environment. This inexplicable delay risks undermining the trust that European citizens, local and international civil society and trade union organizations, workers and victims of corporate abuse have placed in the EU to regulate sustainable and responsible business in the wake of the COVID pandemic and the climate and Biodiversity crisis. “

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December 10th is Human Rights Day. We would have liked to have been able to announce news from the EU that day promising increasing protection of human rights. It is therefore all the more important to support initiatives that campaign for human rights around the world, such as XertifiX or the Supply Chain Act initiative .