How do you react to the attitude of certain states that caused the failure to reach a qualified majority?
There were last-minute requests from certain member states, more or less related to the subject itself, to reduce the text, deprive it of certain elements and increase the thresholds. These positions create more confusion than resolution. Some governments are clearly unwilling to compromise, because where there is political will, there is a way. The text is a compromise based on a mandate from many citizens in Europe, including the ETUC, which represents 45 million workers and provided one of the 150,000 responses sent to the Commission for its citizens’ consultation. The Parliament and the Council have worked on the basis of this mandate and must adopt a legislative text. Failure to do so is unacceptable from a democratic point of view, given that the member states have had ample time to put forward their points of view. But we are mobilising to reverse the trend. If the message from politicians on the eve of the European elections could be that companies aren’t just in it to make profits at any cost, but are committed to sustainability, respecting people and the planet, that would be very significant.
How do you explain this blockage?
