The EU supply chain law has once again failed to achieve the required qualified majority among EU countries. Besides Austria, other members also crossed paths. The local Greens talk about missing a “historic opportunity”.
The Belgian presidency announced the failure on Wednesday on the online platform X (formerly Twitter). The short statement states that we are now examining, together with the EU Parliament, how the reservations of various Member States can be addressed.
There is a compromise
The EU Member States (Council), together with the European Parliament, have in fact already agreed on a common compromise text. However, both institutions still have to give their final approval. This was not possible at a meeting of EU ambassadors in mid-February and the Council vote was therefore postponed.
Due to differences of opinion within the governing coalition in Berlin, Germany announced that it would abstain. Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher (ÖVP) also announced that Vienna would abstain from voting. In addition, other countries, including Italy, have probably also changed course. In order to adopt the text in the Council (in which the EU countries are represented), a qualified majority (55 percent – i.e. 15 of the 27 Member States, representing at least 65 percent of the population) in the Committee of EU ambassadors needed. would be necessary.
Austrian Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) described today’s outcome in a press release as “bitter”. Unlike Kocher, she had asked for Austria’s approval in the past. “This meant that a historic opportunity was missed to protect millions of children from exploitation and to protect our environment from further destruction,” Zadic said.
However, she emphasized that despite today’s setback, she did not want to give up. “I will continue to work to protect children, nature and human rights at all levels,” the statement said.
ÖVP sees “democratic decision”
There is great excitement among human rights activists and climate activists. The Green’s top candidate for the EU elections, Lena Schilling, calls it a scandal. However, Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s deputy chief of staff, Daniel Kosak, defends the result: “If the intended majority is missed because there are major concerns, then that is a democratic decision.”
According to Economic Affairs Minister Kocher, today’s result shows that “in addition to Austria, many other countries were also concerned about the feasibility of the current design,” he said in a press release. However, the objectives of the Supply Chain Directive are supported. “We have called for further negotiations and hope that talks will now resume.”
“Today’s decision has rightly prevented a huge last-minute competitive disadvantage for the European business and industrial location,” said Georg Knill, President of the Industrial Association (IV). “For many companies, especially in the mid-sized sector, the requirements simply could not be implemented.”
ÖVP ‘prevents’ human rights
“Today the FDP and ÖVP are responsible for preventing a milestone in the field of environmental protection and human rights,” criticizes the environmental organization Greenpeace. “Minister Kocher based himself on arguments from the sector that were simply wrong or grossly exaggerated,” says their spokeswoman Lisa Panhuber.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
