The EU Parliament has approved a weakening of the supply chain directive, with the conservative EPP voting alongside far-right parties. EPP leader Manfred Weber rejects claims of dependency on extremists. Critics view this as a betrayal of EU principles.
In the EU Parliament, the conservative European People's Party (EPP) voted for a relaxation of the EU supply chain directive, similar to the AfD and other far-right parties. This sparked sharp criticism, as the EPP appeared to breach the firewall against extremists.
Manfred Weber, CSU politician and EPP leader, rejected the accusation on ZDF: "We have never extended a hand to any right-wing populist in the European Parliament as the European People's Party, helped them into office, or assisted them in their function." He stressed that the AfD's votes were not decisive for the majority and there are no dependencies on far-right forces.
Janina Böttger, the European policy spokesperson for The Left in the German Bundestag, criticized: "The conservatives are hoisting Europe's enemies into decision-making power—instead of isolating them." She saw the cooperation as a betrayal of the EU's founding idea.
Weber accused the Social Democrats of not supporting a negotiated compromise. The vote launches "the first major de-bureaucratization package." Originally, the law was to obligate companies with more than 1,000 employees and annual turnover of 450 million euros to prevent human rights violations and environmental pollution in supply chains. Now, the threshold has been raised to 5,000 employees and 1.5 billion euros.