The head of the conservative EVP party family in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber (CSU), rejected accusations of breaking down what he called barriers to far-right radical groups. “As the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, we have never shaken hands with any right-wing populist, helped them get into office, or helped them function,” Weber said on ZDF. Previously that was the case EPP voted together with far-right parties to relax the EU Supply Chain Directive.
The EPP faced clear criticism for this move. The left-wing European policy spokeswoman in the Bundestag, Janina Böttger, said: “The conservatives are giving decision-making power to Europe’s enemies – instead of isolating them.” The merging of conservatives and right-wing extremists is a betrayal of the founding ideas of the Communist Party EU.
Weber said the AfD vote did not determine the majority. “That’s why there is no reliance on these radical right-wing forces.”
Weber spoke of a “debureaucratization package”
Weber accused the Social Democrats in Parliament of not supporting a negotiated compromise to relax supply chain directives. With the vote, “the first major de-bureaucratization package” was launched.
The Supply Chain Law, passed a year ago, was originally intended to require companies with more than 1,000 employees and an annual turnover of 450 million euros to limit human rights abuses and environmental pollution in their supply chains. The majority entered European Union Parliament However, they have now chosen to raise the threshold to 5,000 employees and an annual turnover of at least 1.5 billion euros.
