Immature policy creates massive uncertainty and harms the entire economy
Vienna (OTS) – Business and industry are taking a clear stance on the supply chain law. Federal Minister Kocher’s stance of not agreeing to the vote in the EU Council is fully supported by the Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Industrialists. The adoption of such a directive in its current form would massively damage the competitiveness of the EU. The OECD is already confirming that the Eurozone is experiencing significantly lower growth than the USA and China.
From the perspective of the WKÖ and the IV, the EU Council has an immature directive that only creates uncertainty for companies and presents itself as a bureaucratic monster. In addition, the present draft could transfer responsibility along the “chain of activities” and thus companies of all sizes in Austria could be indirectly affected by the regulations; they cannot be administered, especially for medium-sized companies. “Unfortunately, well-intentioned is the opposite of well-done,” sums up Christoph Neumayer, IV General Secretary.
Specifically, for the Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce, Karlheinz Kopf, it is irresponsible to commission domestic SMEs to carry out international risk analyses: “It is not possible for small companies to control whether a supplier along the supply chain may be violating the requirements of the directive,” said Kopf .
In principle, a European law must also be applicable and implementable for companies. “Excessive requirements and passing on responsibility from one delivery level to the next is an ineffective means of effectively protecting human rights and preventing environmental damage. With the current design, politicians are passing on their previous failures to the entrepreneurs – they are now supposed to solve what international institutions have not achieved for years,” criticizes Neumayer.
The local companies are already internationally known for their high ethical and social standards. “Our companies are already spreading these high standards out into the world through investments and supply relationships,” says Kopf, and continues: “If a supply chain law prevents investments and international supply relationships by domestic companies or even leads to migration from third countries, it fails to serve its purpose and can “worsen the status quo on site.” Numerous Austrian industrial companies have been carrying out due diligence checks along their supply chains for many years and have been working closely with their suppliers to improve standards. “It is not acceptable for companies to be held liable for inadequacies in their supply chains if they did not directly cause them or have taken appropriate due care,” said Neumayer. (PWK050)
Questions & Contact:
Sebastian Winter
Austrian Chamber of Commerce
Spokesperson for the Secretary General
T 0590900 4462
E sebastian.winter@wko.at
Current news from the economy for the economy – https://news.wko.at/oe/news/start
Industrial Association
Marlena Mayer
Press spokesperson
+43 (1) 711 35-2315
marlena.mayer@iv.at
https://iv.at/