Like other countries, the Austrian government now also positions itself against the EU Lief Coveret Act and therefore tells a bureaucratic monster. In the “Krone” conversation, the CEOmen make it clear that this can only be a first step. A real reduction in bureaucracy is still not in sight.
French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz waved around and wanted to bury the Lief Chain Law. The Austrian Minister of Economy Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer also sees it that way. With the planned directive, large companies must be liable for violations of their suppliers of human and environmental legislation. “The directive is shifting government control tasks to companies,” says Industrial Iris Ortner, head of Igo Industries, in the “Krone” conversation.
Check thousands of companies
Airport boss Günther ofner gives an example: “We have plants with more than 100 components at the airport. If the system is and we need a spare part, it will take weeks before we understand the supply chain.” PORR -BAAS Karl Heinz Strauss knows the German market supply chain law, where there is one: “We had to check more than 10,000 companies in Germany alone. And the competitor has to do the same!” Ortner also compiles systems of hundreds of elements for customers. “Instead of always creating new tasks, the EU must invest in a targeted way in the construction control on the site. Nobody wants the cocoa to be picked in the early stick stitch of children’s hands.”
In general, the possible guideline of the Supply Chain does not go far enough for the economic captains. This is only about “less more” instead of an actual reduction in bureaucracy. New extra regulations are prevented, but there is no way. “But the companies must also feel that certain tasks are actually eliminated, everything else is an announcement policy,” said Ortner. Airport General ofner also states the wage transparency directive, including the new authority, the deforestation regulations or tightening in sustainability report. Orner: “These are large millstones that throw us back in growth.”
Sustainability reports “Nobody reads through”
The sustainability reports in particular eat many resources. “In the end, nobody reads these hundreds of pages and more than 1000 indicators,” says Ofner. The fact that an omnibus regulation is now coming is a step in the right direction. This means that some regulators (collected “omnibus”) are changed at the same time with a regulation, wants to make the EU committee relief. All in all, not much is split here, but those reporting obligations are merged, the threshold values are changed and deadlines are stretched, says entrepreneur Ortner. For Strauss it is also only “a drop on the hot stone”. The costs are only distributed for longer. “But to turn the mood, that’s not enough.” According to the IV Secretary -General Christoph Neumayer, the moment is now “to show that the debt bureaucratisation is seriously intended.”
Europe can also remain pioneers in many questions and sustainability, the only question is how. “If we want to be a pioneer, we must be solutions for the first class, for example in energy efficiency, but not by most instructions.” Strauss also emphasizes that many companies rely on sustainability (circular economy, energy efficiency, etc.) in itself, because this is simply economically profitable. “It works best when it also sees politics from a market perspective,” says Ortner and refers to the US.
Moreover: if hardly any developed countries abolished child labor in the past and introduced higher standards, this succeeded in making more prosperity in advance – not by initially imposing his ideas on other countries and then becoming the empire.
NGOs fear cut clearly
But the EU Lief Coveret Act also has some supporters, especially many NGOs such as Südwind, Global 2000 or Attac. It is not the “green deal” that endangers the economy, but high energy prices, false industrial policy and low public investments. The Supply Chain Act, on the other hand, is important to protect environmental protection, human rights standards, etc. protection, etc. There must be no permit for the violation of important standards.
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.
