Large companies will soon have to test not only their own business operations against international rules of conduct, but also those of their suppliers and customers. After further relaxations, the Member States have agreed to new rules for corporate social responsibility.
By raising the threshold for the number of employees of a company from 500 to 1,000 and turnover from €150 million to €450 million, only a third of companies are now covered by the new law, contrary to what was initially proposed.
The German and French liberal groups in Berlin, Paris and Strasbourg in particular objected to restrictive rules for companies and entrepreneurs in the EU countries.
Belgium, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, had twice tried unsuccessfully to secure the EU's support for the law as Germany and other EU members, including Italy, abstained.
Rome referred to complex negotiations, including a new law on packaging waste, about which Italy has expressed some reservations and says the right balance has now been struck. That law was also approved on Friday.
Dutch MEP Lara Wolters (S&D/PvdA), who oversaw the preparation of the law, said that “the approval of the anti-looking away law is a victory for people and the environment, and a loss for cynical lobbyists. Reluctant business lobbies did everything they could to undermine and stop the law.”
“Now the ball is in the European Parliament's court for the very last hurdle. After five years of negotiations and consultations, it is high time to take a big step towards the fairer economy of the future.”
The European Parliament will soon announce when it will vote on the agreement. This will take place in two stages: the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) will first consider the agreement next week; with a majority in committee, Parliament will vote in plenary session in April.