PRESS RELEASE Works council members are advocating for an EU directive to protect human and environmental rights

IG Metall works council members from over 30 companies with a combined total of more than three million employees worldwide are publicly advocating for an EU regulation that effectively protects the rights of workers globally, improves their working conditions, and strengthens environmental protection. This comes in response to a current EU directive designed to ensure precisely this, on which the European Parliament will hold a vote this Thursday—a vote that is crucial for the directive’s future. A total of 36 works council members from companies such as Airbus, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens, and many others are now speaking out with a joint statement because they fear that the regulation will not receive the necessary support in the European Parliament and will be watered down in the subsequent proceedings.

The statement reads: “We advocate that the negotiated compromise be adopted by the European Parliament and negotiated in the trilogue with the Council and the Commission without further watering down. The current draft has the potential to address key weaknesses in the German Supply Chain Act and thus mitigate the risks for those affected in the Global South even more effectively.”

With the planned vote on the so-called CSDD Directive (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence) on June 1, the European Parliament is paving the way for final deliberations in the Council and the Commission. However, there are efforts by conservatives in the European Parliament to reject the negotiated compromise and thus take the wind out of its sails for further negotiations.

Wolfgang Lemb, Executive Board Member of IG Metall, commented: “Together with the signing IG Metall works council members, we call on all members of the European Parliament to vote in favor of the negotiated compromise. Only with strong backing from the European Parliament can we prevent the directive from being further watered down. The due diligence obligations of European companies must not be undermined by ideological and political principles. Europe must take responsibility for ensuring fairness in companies’ global supply chains.”

Read the full statement