Opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market

30.5.2023

Mr Bernd LANGE

Chair

Committee on International Trade

BRUSSELS

Ms Anna CAVAZZINI

Chair

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market (COM(2022)0453 – C910986 – 2022/0269(COD))

Dear Chairs,

At the meeting of 31 January 2023, the Coordinators of the Committee on Legal Affairs decided to give an opinion in letter form, in accordance with Rule 56(1) of the Rules of Procedure, on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market with a focus on the competences of our Committee. On that same date, I was appointed as rapporteur for the opinion in my capacity as the Chair of the Committee.

Suggestions:

At its meeting of 30 May 2023, the Committee on Legal Affairs accordingly decided, by 18 votes in favour, no votes against and one abstention , to call on the Committee on International Trade and on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as the committees responsible, to take into account the following when preparing their draft legislative report.

The suggestions are made with due regard given by the Committee on Legal Affairs to the following: the European Parliament resolution of 9 June 2022 on a new trade instrument to ban products made by forced labour; the European Parliament resolution of 10 March 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability, and the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (2022/0051(COD)).

1. The objectives of ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth and addressing risks related to human rights social issues, environmental degradation and climate change underpin several pieces of Union legislation, including on sustainability reporting requirements (already in force) and on corporate sustainability due diligence (legislative process underway).

2. Compliance with due diligence requirements should enable companies to identify, prevent, mitigate, remediate and minimise and bring to an end, potential or actual adverse human rights and environmental impacts associated with their value chains. This will ensure that products placed on the internal market are in compliance with international and EU environmental and human rights standards for companies falling within the scope of the future directive on corporate sustainability due diligence.

3. The prohibition of placing and making products made with forced labour available on the Union market is a fundamental measure that complements the provisions on due diligence. Therefore, the provisions regarding this prohibition should be designed to ensure consistency with the future provisions on due diligence and applied without prejudice to them.

4. With regard to the specific aspects of the Commission's proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market, the following issues should be highlighted:

 The need to avoid duplication of obligations for companies which are under the scope of application of the corporate sustainability due diligence directive;

 The need to ensure proper communication and cooperation between national authorities responsible for due diligence provisions and those responsible for prohibiting products made with forced labour, which is crucial to ensure coherence and effectiveness in enforcing both sets of provisions;

 The need to provide for more detailed rules on penalties (Article 30 of the proposal for a regulation) under the prohibition of products made with forced labour, by clearly specifying their nature and level.

Yours sincerely,

Adrián Vázquez Lázara