““The law would be gutted before it even came into force””

…On 26 February, the Commission suggested in the new so-called Omnibus proposal that key parts of the directive be weakened. The due diligence requirements will now only apply to subsidiaries and direct suppliers, which are typically located in the EU and pose the lowest risk to human rights. European companies will only have to concern themselves with indirect business partners if they have plausible evidence of human rights or environmental problems. But by then it is usually too late…

…Moreover, the Commission wants to eliminate the civil liability provision. That means that people in countries of the Global South will have little hope of obtaining compensation if European companies cause damage by violating due diligence requirements. At the same time, penalties for violations will no longer be tied to corporate revenue as originally planned…

It would mean that people suffering under poor working conditions would have even fewer opportunities to protect themselves. European companies would have to take hardly any responsibility…

A good example is the catastrophic fire in the Ali Enterprises textile factory in Pakistan in 2012. Over 250 people died because emergency exits were blocked and there were no fire safety measures in place…