Doslovný zápis z rozpráv

Štvrtok, 1. júna 2023 - Brusel

8.1. Náležitá starostlivosť podnikov v oblasti udržateľnosti (A9-0184/2023 - Lara Wolters)

Oral explanations of vote

  Mick Wallace (The Left). – Madam President, the directive has arrived decades late, after so much exploitation, environmental degradation and abuse by European companies has occurred with zero or inadequate consequences for those responsible.

The text agreed by the European Justice Ministers in December was watered down and toothless. Now we have a chance to make this important directive fit for purpose. And the same groups that are trying to crush the natural restoration law proposal are tabling a raft of amendments designed to protect company directors from the responsibility to implement the directive.

That being said, there are some improvements on the Council’s approach and the Commission’s proposals. If it passes in its current state, more companies will be subject to regulation. Yet that will still be less than 2% of EU companies. The financial sector is still getting off lightly and the fossil fuel companies are basically off the hook for being the main drivers of mass extinction.

How regressive is this place that MEPs are trying to weaken an already inadequate text?

  Jiří Pospíšil (PPE). – Paní předsedající, nakonec jsem konečnou podobu návrhu nepodpořil, a to z toho důvodu, že na jedné straně samozřejmě hodnoty životního prostředí, hodnoty lidských práv ve třetím světě jsou klíčové a důležité hodnoty. Jsem ale přesvědčen, že ta cesta, která byla zvolena ve schváleném materiálu, není správná cesta a že nakonec povede k tomu, co autoři nezamýšleli. To znamená k poškození evropských firem a k tomu, že v globálním kontextu posílí firmy, které nejsou z Evropy a které taková pravidla a omezení nemusí naplňovat. Bohužel se obávám, že tady dobrý úmysl je cestou do pekel a že v důsledku tohoto dojde ke snížení konkurenceschopnosti evropských firem a pomůže to naopak čínským konkurentům.

  Marc Tarabella (NI). – Madame la Présidente, aujourd’hui est un jour important. Aujourd’hui, c’est le jour où l’Europe prend une décision décisive pour les droits des travailleurs, l’éthique et la morale, le renforcement de la protection de l’environnement. Alors que l’on commémore les dix ans de la tragédie du Rana Plaza et que l’on rend hommage aux plus de 3 600 victimes de cette tragédie, nous devons nous souvenir que ce drame est aussi la responsabilité des entreprises européennes qui ont préféré fermer les yeux sur une forme d’esclavage dont elles étaient finalement complices. Mon vote en faveur du texte était donc une évidence, ayant notamment été le rapporteur pour avis de la commission du marché intérieur dans ce dossier.

  Chris MacManus (The Left). – A Uachtaráin, I was happy to vote in favor of the CSDDD. Today’s vote was an important milestone towards improving the global landscape on business and human rights.

This is a crucial piece of legislation that will finally hold multinational companies to task for the myriad human rights and environmental abuses linked to their value chains. The position established today is not perfect, but I am pleased that efforts from the right to scupper the directive were almost all unsuccessful.

We are now one step closer to proper corporate accountability and access to justice for victims. We must continue to stand in solidarity with impacted communities and insist on a strong due diligence law during the trilogue negotiations.

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Madam President, I too voted in favor of this report on corporate due diligence, and I would like to thank so many members of our society who lobbied so hard in order to get this past the line. I would absolutely like to share and echo their concerns about the inevitable watering down of this crucial directive by the Council.

It is very clear that we need a strong and robust directive that helps put an end to the appalling human rights and environmental abuses committed regularly by corporations. But let’s be honest about it: even though we did withstand much of the regressive amendments here today, the text itself does try to give an illusion that these companies are going to police themselves.

The recent revelations in Total’s archaic management of the waste generated by the oil extraction process in Yemen in the 2000 are a perfect example of how this is not so. We have had a succession of accidents on the sites, mercury levels well above the standards found in soil and water samples, an increase in cancer cases, particularly among children – join the dots! Total flee the country and left Yemenis under the shellfire with a ruined environment. The fight for justice goes on way past today’s vote.

  Piernicola Pedicini (Verts/ALE). – Signora Presidente, il diritto internazionale dice che l'invasione russa è illegale esattamente come le guerre della NATO in Iraq, in Serbia, in Libia e in Siria. Sono tutte guerre illegali volute da ricchi, combattute da poveri e pagate da cittadini ancora più poveri.

Perciò questa guerra in realtà è la solita guerra ai poveri. Non ci sono soldi, ma l'Europa ha salvato le banche nelle crisi bancarie. Non ci sono soldi, ma gli Stati membri hanno subito risposto alla richiesta della NATO per uno sforzo bellico fino al 2 per cento del PIL. E se si trovano i soldi per il Covid, la pesante burocrazia impedisce di assorbire quelle risorse nelle aree più povere del nostro continente.

In questo momento ci sono milioni di cittadini europei che non hanno la possibilità di mettere cibo a tavola. Però questa Unione europea ha il denaro per le banche, ha il denaro per la guerra, ma non ha il denaro per i suoi poveri cittadini. Per questo motivo ho votato "no" alla risoluzione Asap. Noi in Ucraina non dobbiamo inviare munizioni, dobbiamo inviare soluzioni. Non dobbiamo esportare democrazia, dobbiamo esportare diplomazia.