Economic initiative rehearses rebellion against EU supply chain law

Kari Ochsner: “We can’t pretend that there aren’t already a lot of regulations for our products. The supply chain law is on top. At some point companies will run out of steam.” Addendum: “You have to make sure that there are still people who want to be entrepreneurs.”

Deregulation required

Günther Ofner is also annoyed by the over-regulation in the EU. He sees Commission President Ursula von der Leyen challenged. “Ursula von der Leyen promised to reduce reporting requirements and regulations by 25 percent. She has to comply with that. Until then, no new EU laws should be waved through, otherwise the promised deregulation will be put on the back burner,” says Ofner.

He also doesn’t understand why companies are saddled with evidence of suppliers’ sustainable production. “If there are countries or producers that are known to be violating regulations, then the consequences are a government responsibility and not a business concern.”

Peter Umundum sees it similarly: “A simpler option would be to work with a blocklist. This defines which companies do not comply with the regulations and are therefore no longer part of the solution in the supply chain.” In any case, it will be a major challenge for the companies affected if the law cannot be prevented. Michael Strugl: “It will be very costly for companies. Additional human resources are required to meet the requirements.”

Fear of competitive disadvantage

And there are fears of a major competitive disadvantage, as Kari Ochsner explains: “One must not forget that the industry in particular is in massive competition with the USA and Asia. Regulations that do not apply to these competitors on the global market make our lives even more difficult. In Austria, industry is in recession for the third year in a row. The situation is more than serious.” Even more bureaucracy would make this even worse.

Michael Strugl: “It’s also about a certain sense of proportion in the approach. I believe that high human rights and environmental standards can also be guaranteed if we focus on more feasibility from a company perspective during implementation.”

Small and medium-sized businesses are also affected

The EU supply chain law basically wants to make large companies responsible when it comes to their suppliers. The high penalties are also aimed at this. Nevertheless, it is assumed in business circles that small and medium-sized businesses will ultimately also be affected.

Kari Ochsner: “It was originally said that it would only affect companies of a certain size. But this is an invoice without the landlord, because of course all leading companies, all larger companies, pass on these information obligations to their suppliers. And there are also a lot of small and medium-sized businesses there.”

Michael Strugl points out that we are already looking closely at who the suppliers are: “Basically, of course, we want to take a certain amount of care along our supply chain. We also require suppliers and business partners to comply with quality standards and sustainability principles.”

New decision in the EU?

In any case, the economy wants to increase the pressure to bring down the supply chain law. Günther Ofner: “The end of the EU supply chain law is a demand from the incoming federal government, but also from the EU representatives. There are now different majority relationships in the Commission and in the European Parliament.” The operators are given hope by the fact that the German SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently publicly expressed his concerns about the delivery law. Quote: “It’ll go away.”