The German government clarified on Wednesday that it aimed to “slim down” the European Union’s new supply chain audit law but not to scrap it entirely.
Some European leaders worry that the law, which requires larger companies to check if their suppliers use forced labour or cause environmental damage, could hurt the bloc’s ability to compete with the U.S. and China.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that the law should be taken “off the table”, 10 days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for it to be scrapped during his first visit as chancellor to Brussels.
Merz’s spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Wednesday that Berlin was in talks with the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, to reform the law.
As part of the EU Commission’s reform efforts to reduce bureaucracy, “the aim is to slim down the supply chain law,” Kornelius added.
In its current form, the law, also known by its acronym CSDDD, would start imposing obligations on companies from 2027.
