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The Members of the European Parliament voted against the easing of a law that requires companies to monitor misconduct in their supply chains more closely and a law that requires them to report on their impact on the environment and climate, with 319 votes against 309 (34 abstentions). This is the first in a series of proposals that the European Commission has put forward since the beginning of this year to alleviate the administrative burden on companies.
Rapporteur Jorgen Warborn of the European People’s Party (EPP) had presented a compromise with the social democrats of S&D and the liberal Renew two weeks ago, but this proved unsustainable during a secret vote in the plenary session. The far right and far left voted against for various reasons, but there was also resistance among the social democrats, for example, from the Belgian delegation. “This is deregulation at the expense of the most vulnerable and least protected workers in our society,” responded Kathleen Van Brempt and Bruno Tobback (Vooruit).
Kris van Dijck (N-VA), who sits in the conservative and nationalist ECR group, also voted for the rejection of the text, but because he still finds the obligations for companies too far-reaching. “Our companies are suffering greatly under European overregulation, and a drastic change is urgently needed.”
On the EPP benches, Wouter Beke (CD&V) lamented the outcome. “Extremes unfortunately find each other in stagnation: one because it goes too far, the other because it does not go far enough. Meanwhile, citizens and companies are waiting for the urgent simplification of this complex and far-reaching European legislation,” he concluded.
The rejection means that the parliament members will have to vote on an amended text next month. The delay is causing frustration among the member states. They have been ready for negotiations for months and have made the simplification of European regulations a priority. Among others, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has already expressed his complaints.