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6 Feb 2024
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Initiative Lieferkettengesetz
Pressemitteilung der Initiative Lieferkettengesetz: Deutsche Enthaltung zu EU-Lieferkettengesetz ist ein Armutszeugnis für Demokratie und Menschenrechtsschutz
"Deutsche Enthaltung zu EU-Lieferkettengesetz – ein Armutszeugnis für Demokratie und Menschenrechtsschutz"
Die Bundesregierung wird dem in Brüssel ausgehandelten Kompromiss zum EU-Lieferkettengesetz auf Druck der FDP und großer Wirtschaftsverbände nicht zustimmen. Das hat Arbeitsminister Hubertus Heil (SPD) heute der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters mitgeteilt. Die Initiative Lieferkettengesetz verurteilt diesen Rückzug in letzter Minute. Er schädige das Ansehen Deutschlands als verlässlicher politischer und wirtschaftlicher Partner in der EU und zeige, welche geringe Priorität Menschenrechte sowie Klima- und Umweltschutz für die Bundesregierung haben.
Michelle Trimborn, Sprecherin der Initiative Lieferkettengesetz, kommentiert:
Deutschlands Ablehnung des EU-Lieferkettengesetzes ist ein Armutszeugnis für die Demokratie und für den Menschenrechtsschutz. Alle Beteiligten verlieren durch dieses unsägliche Verhalten: die Bundesregierung, die deutsche Wirtschaft und vor allem die Betroffenen in den Lieferketten weltweit.
Deutschland diskreditiert sich als politischer Partner in der EU, indem es in letzter Minute ein jahrelang verhandeltes Projekt torpediert. Viele Unternehmen, die sich seit Langem auf das Gesetz vorbereitet haben, werden vor den Kopf gestoßen, weil die Bundesregierung die wirtschaftliche Möglichkeit und Notwendigkeit der Zustimmung nicht erkennt. Und jenen Menschen, die für unsere Produkte und unseren Wohlstand in den globalen Lieferketten unter oft ausbeuterischen Bedingungen arbeiten, gibt die Bundesregierung das deutliche Signal: Ihre Rechte sind der deutschen Politik egal.
Durch das fehlende Machtwort von Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) gegen die Sabotage durch die FDP, überlässt er die Entscheidung über den Schutz der Menschenrechte und der Umwelt faktisch der rechtsextremen Regierung in Italien. Auch die Minister*innen von SPD und Grünen haben sich offenbar nicht ernsthaft für ein Machtwort des Kanzlers eingesetzt. Damit haben sie deutlich gemacht, dass ihnen der Koalitionsfrieden wichtiger ist als Menschenrechte und Umweltschutz.
Wir setzen unsere Hoffnung nun auf die anderen Mitgliedsstaaten der EU. Das EU-Lieferkettengesetz muss auch trotz deutscher Ablehnung in Kraft treten. Die Richtlinie kann nicht nur Menschenrechte, Umwelt- und Klimaschutz, sondern auch die europäische Wirtschaft stärken. Andere EU-Mitglieder können jetzt beweisen, dass sie weitsichtig, innovativ und fair handeln. Das fehlende Rückgrat der Bundesregierung sollte sie nicht beeinflussen.
Kontext:
Die deutsche Bundesregierung war maßgeblich an den Verhandlungen zur sog. Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive beteiligt. Nach Zustimmung von Parlament, Rat und Kommission konnte der Trilog, die finale Verhandlung zum Gesetzestext, im Dezember 2023 erfolgreich abgeschlossen werden, weitere Zustimmungen gelten in der EU als Formalia. Im Januar 2024 folgte die Kehrtwende der FDP mit dem Aufruf, die Zustimmung zum Gesetz zu verweigern.
Noch heute veröffentlichten große Unternehmen, darunter ALDI Süd, Mars, Kik und Tchibo, einen dringenden Aufruf an die deutsche Bundesregierung, sich nicht zu enthalten, da dies der Wirschaft schade und Rechtsunsicherheit schaffen könne. Lesen Sie hier das Unternehmensstatement.
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