Appeal to the Federal Government regarding the EU Supply Chain Act
Cologne, December 1, 2022 - The children's rights organizations Kindernothilfe, Plan International Germany, Save the Children, terre des hommes , UNICEF Germany and World Vision Germany call on the German Federal Government to advocate strongly in the European Council for better protection of human and children's rights in global value chains.
The reason is the EU Council decision on the so-called EU Supply Chain Law, announced for today, which is intended to oblige companies across the EU to comply with their corporate due diligence in their global value chains.
In an open letter to Chancellor Scholz and the responsible ministers, the organizations demand that children's rights be given special consideration. This demand stems from various indications that the draft directive on corporate due diligence, presented by the EU Commission at the beginning of the year, is to be weakened in key areas.
“In their coalition agreement, the governing parties clearly committed to an effective EU supply chain law,” said Christian Schneider, Executive Director of UNICEF Germany. “Germany should therefore advocate in the EU legislative process for regulations that protect children from the negative impacts of corporate activities and make progress in the fight against child labor worldwide. Weakening the current draft law would contradict this objective.”
From the organizations' point of view, it is essential that the EU directive obliges companies to identify child rights risks not only in established business relationships, but throughout their entire value and supply chains, and to ensure effective remediation, prevention and compensation.
Furthermore, UNICEF, together with other children's rights organizations, calls on the German Federal Government to ensure that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child remains included as a legally binding principle, as in the current draft by the Commission.