EU parliament majority votes for weaker supply chain law

A majority of the European Parliament has voted in favour of a significant weakening of the EU supply chain directive.

The proposal was passed with 382 votes in favour, 249 against, and 13 abstentions. Among other changes, the regulations will now only apply to a select number of very large companies, and there will be no obligation to develop climate plans. The Parliament can now enter into final negotiations with the EU member states on the proposal.

“Today is a good day for Europe's competitiveness,” said the chairman of the EPP group, Manfred Weber (CSU), after the vote. The EPP group, which includes the CDU and CSU, had previously reached a compromise with the Social Democrats (S&D) and the Liberals weeks ago.

Secret ballot three weeks ago

However, this failed to secure a majority in a secret ballot, leading to some harsh criticism. CDU leader Friedrich Merz called the parliament's decision “unacceptable” and demanded a correction.

Many in the parliament assumed after the vote that the S&D had not voted unanimously for the compromise. In the end, the proposal was just a few votes short of a majority three weeks ago. Hundreds of amendments were then submitted by the political groups, which were subsequently voted on in turn.

Green MEP Anna Cavazzini said a line had been crossed following the vote. For the first time, Weber's EPP had deliberately and calculatedly pushed a law through parliament with the votes of the far right, the MEP said.

Some of the amendments to weaken the proposal would not have achieved a majority without the votes of the far-right MEPs.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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