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This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by Belga.

Duty of care law for large companies stumbles across the finish line

by AI | 27.May 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The new European duty of care law has been approved. This happened narrowly, as 17 member states voted in favor, while 10 others abstained.

A mining installation of the Schleenhain mine in the vicinity of Leipzig. Large companies will have to meet new sustainability requirements. - Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa

Brussels – The member states of the European Union formally gave the green light last Friday to a new duty of care law that makes large companies responsible for addressing exploitation and environmental damage throughout their entire supply chain. The law has had a difficult course, and the approval on Friday was also a close call.

At the end of 2023, negotiators from the member states and the European Parliament reached a political agreement on the law, but it was subsequently not approved in the Council, where all 27 member states are represented. Under the Belgian presidency, the text was reworked and the threshold was adjusted to determine which companies are subject to the duty of care law.

This new version has now been formally approved. Of the 27 EU countries, 17 voted in favor on Friday and ten chose to abstain. Thus, the minimum conditions for approval have been narrowly met: the procedure used requires the green light from at least 15 member states that together represent at least 65 percent of the EU population. The 17 member states that gave their approval account for 68 percent of European citizens.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Pierre-Yves Dermagne said in a response that large companies will now have to take responsibility in the transition to a greener and more socially just economy.