Representatives of the European Parliament (EP) and the European Council (EC) succeeded in early March reach an agreement in that the European Union bans products made with forced labor. However, this could increase trade tensions with China – argues in his article the Financial Times. Under the March 5 interim agreement, Brussels will monitor reports of forced labor worldwide and seize and destroy products that violate the ban. Final approval by the European Parliament and member states is required for the agreement to enter into force. After that, the member states will have another three years to transpose the regulations into their domestic legal system.
Work is often a compulsion for Uighurs.
Photo: End Uyghur Forced Labor
“It is appalling that slavery and forced labor still exist in the world in the 21st century. This terrible crime must be eradicated, and the first step to achieve this is to break the business model of companies that exploit workers,” Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, who holds the EU presidency, told the newspaper.
The Chinese province of Xinjiang is in the crosshairs
As early as 2022, the United States has already blocked all imports from Xinjiang, where, according to reports, Beijing forces members of the Muslim Uyghur minority into forced labor. The EU imports large quantities of solar panels from the region, and Volkswagen operates a car assembly plant there. The United States recently seized thousands of Volkswagen cars at its ports after an importer found Chinese parts in the vehicles that violated its anti-forced labor laws. Volkswagen denies any wrongdoing but is investigating after media reports said its joint venture used forced labor to build a test track. Human rights groups estimate that more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslims have been detained for years, and thousands of them are reported to have been transported to work in factories.
“People around the world suffer from forced labor, and the solar panels and T-shirts they make in Xinjiang, for example, often find their way into our shops and homes. This will not be the case in the future. The EU will use the power of its market in the fight against forced labor worldwide,” explained German Green Party representative Anna Cavazzini, chair of the European Parliament’s internal market committee.
EU officials said they could not target China exclusively, as that would violate World Trade Organization anti-discrimination rules.
The EU has recently stepped up its action against China as its trade deficit has reached record levels. He launched an investigation into electric vehicle imports that could lead to tariffs and took the first step under new rules banning state aid that could block a contract for a Chinese train manufacturer in Bulgaria.
Uyghur blue flag and territory in red china.
Photo: CHP
Under pressure from the United States?
Politico’s article from early March is laconic establishes, that “Europe is (only) catching up with the United States in terms of forced labor in China”. An EU ban on imported products made with forced labor will be weaker than current US legislation – and it risks turning the European Union into a “dumping ground”, campaigners for the regulation have warned. Five years after the United States first called on the EU to properly address human rights abuses uncovered in China’s Xinjiang province, Europe is finally finalizing its vision, supporters are cheering.
“At least 28 million victims of forced labor cannot wait any longer,” Dutch lawmaker Samira Rafaela told Politico.
An estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are believed to be interned in the so-called autonomous region, where a paramilitary unit – reminiscent of colonial methods to researchers – oversees the internees’ economic performance as well as law and order. A report published last month by researcher Adrian Zenz found that the province continues to subject Uighurs to forced labor two years after a UN report detailed the abuses.
Human Rights Watch is also a human rights organization stood out in addition to legislation prohibiting forced labor in Europe, also using the Chinese government’s cruel measures against the Uyghur minority as the main argument.
“The links between China’s rapidly expanding auto industry and forced labor in Xinjiang also show why it is vital that European Union governments adopt a bill banning imports and exports involving forced labor,” Human Rights Watch notes.
However, modern slavery is a global phenomenon
According to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO), 27.6 million people worked in forced labor in 2021, including 17.3 million in the private sector and 3.9 million in the public sector, and 6.3 million as sex workers. The information page of the European Council is still he addsthat there are 3 million children among the forced laborers.
The ILO defines forced labor as “any work or service extorted from any person under threat of punishment and not voluntarily offered by that person”. It refers to situations where people are coerced into work by force or intimidation, as well as by more indirect means such as manipulated debts, withholding of identity documents or threats of reporting to immigration authorities. Forced labor continues to be found in many sectors, particularly in textiles, mining, agriculture and the service sector.
Forced labor does not spare workers in the developed world either. ILO data 2012.
Photo: Respect International
Further progress towards the adoption of the directive codenamed CSDDD
The Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament on Tuesday of this week approved the draft law negotiated with EU governments, which “requires companies to reduce their negative impact on human rights and the environment”, which includes a ban on the import of products made with forced labour.
A “qualified majority” of 15 EU members, representing 65% of the EU’s population, was necessary for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to be submitted to the final vote of the European Parliament, where legislators’ support is expected. Belgium, which holds the six-month consecutive presidency of the European Union, tried twice unsuccessfully to gain EU support for the law, as Germany and several EU members, including Italy, abstained.
“Corporate responsibility law must ensure that the future belongs to companies that treat people and the environment in a healthy way – not to those that build their revenue model on environmental damage and exploitation,” Dutch rapporteur Lara Wolters commented on the plenary vote following.
Based on the bill, companies must recognize – and, if necessary, prevent – then eliminate or at least mitigate the negative impact of their necessary activities on human rights and the environment. Areas to watch include child labour, slavery, labor attrition, pollution, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. They must also monitor and evaluate the activities of their partners in the value chain, including not only suppliers, but also sales, distribution, transportation, storage, waste management and other areas.
The new rules apply to companies based in the EU, employing more than 250 employees and with a turnover exceeding EUR 40 million, regardless of their sector, including financial services. Furthermore, parent companies with more than 500 employees fall under the regulation if their global turnover exceeds 150 million euros. Non-EU companies with a turnover exceeding 150 million euros are also included, if at least 40 million of their income was generated in the EU.
According to the Financial Times, the European Commission will create a database containing information on the risks of forced labor in different regions and industries, and based on this, assess which products should be investigated. The EU’s new deal calls for action if certain thresholds are exceeded and gives Brussels broad discretion in launching investigations against non-EU countries. However, an investigation would only be launched if large quantities of goods and extensive forced labor are suspected. The seized goods are donated to charity and then recycled, recycled or destroyed. If forced labor is used in “critical products”, the company concerned may be obliged to withdraw these products from the market. If only a part of a product – for example a car – is accused, then the part is banned, not the entire vehicle.
According to the information page of the European Council, the evaluation criteria for violations of the regulation are as follows:
- the extent and severity of the alleged forced labor;
- the quantity or level of products placed or made available on the EU market;
- the proportion of parts of the product likely to be made with forced labor in the final product;
- the proximity of economic operators to the presumed sources of forced labor in their supply chain, as well as their exposure to risks.