The political agreement reached last night at trilogue on banning forced labour products is an important step forward.
Core trade union demands on it’s scope were included in the legislation. The ban on products made through forced labour would apply to all companies, no matter their size. This will contribute to an even playing field in the EU and strengthen its competitiveness.
This agreement maps out the path towards strengthening fundamental human rights.
Claes-Mikael Ståhl, ETUC Deputy General Secretary, said:
“The EU is taking decisive action to stop the blight of forced labour.
“No company, no matter its size, can be given a free pass to benefit from modern slavery. This blanket ban on forced labour products would place the focus on people’s rights, rather than on how corporations are structured. This sets an important precedent for a rights-based approach to cleaning up our supply chains.
“Unscrupulous companies will no longer be able to resort to forced labour to undercut their competitors. Our global economy means that working people everywhere are deeply, though often invisibly, connected. Banning unfair competition plugs a hole that risked dissipating our hard-fought labour standards into the bottomless pit of abuse that is forced labour.
“The ball is now in member states’ court and we are adamant that no national government must stand in the way of this important legislation. Member states cannot continue to hold progressive EU legislation hostage.”
