Passed by the Bundestag on Friday 11 June, the 'Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains' will come into force in two stages from 2023. From now on, companies headquartered in Germany will be partly responsible for non-compliance with social and environmental standards by their direct suppliers. This legislation is one of the most controversial of Angela Merkel's last term in office. In detail, it is clear that the long stalemate between employers' lobbies and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministries of Labour and Cooperation has paid off. In its final version, the text has been considerably softened.
A law that almost didn’t see the light of day. “This may have been my last speech here, but it is certainly the most important law for more justice between rich and poor – and we still have a lot to do,” said Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) after the vote on the ‘Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains’ (Liefferkettengesetz). It was an emotional moment for the minister, who will be leaving parliament after next September’s general election, and for his colleague,...
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Article authors
Thomas Schnee
Freelance