employers are up against the European text on the “duty of vigilance”

Employers, notably France Industrie, which brings together large industrial companies, are extremely worried about a text adopted on Friday by the EU, which requires companies to have a “duty of vigilance”. If the intention is laudable, employers see European competitiveness threatened.

After weeks of tough negotiations, the 27 countries of the Union agreed on Friday March 15 to oblige companies to protect the environment and respect human rights on a global scale. This is the “duty of vigilance” directive.

This text aims to force groups to better monitor their production chains, which includes their subsidiaries and their suppliers, including abroad. In the event of a breach, these groups could be held responsible and would therefore be culpable. This concerns forced labor, child labor, non-compliance with safety rules or, in environmental matters, damage such as pollution, deforestation, etc.

This directive caused employers to jump, particularly France Industrie, which reacted without delay. However, not all companies are affected. The text only concerns the largest, those with more than 1,000 employees, with a turnover of at least 450 million euros. This represents around 5,500 companies affected.

A vote in April

The bosses hope that Parliament will reverse course, because there remains the passage of the vote, by which the text must be approved by at least 15 of the 27 members of the Union. The European Parliament must decide on the text around mid-April, which leaves a short month for employer lobbies, in France, but also in Germany, a very industrial country… They all have the same argument: by adopting standards too restrictive, while China or the United States do not bother with these obligations, Europe is once again shooting itself in the foot. In a context where competition is very tough, the risk is to degrade European competitiveness and encourage relocations.

For their part, human rights associations and NGOs do not intend to back down. We might as well tell you that in Brussels, the battle of the lobbies is underway.