European Union lawmakers backed further cuts to the bloc’s corporate sustainability law on Thursday, following months of pressure from companies and some governments demanding the EU weakens its rules.
The European Union’s corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD) was adopted last year and requires companies to fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains, or face fines of up to 5% of global turnover.
The law has become a political flashpoint, with countries including the United States and Qatar demanding it is weakened further. They have warned the rules risk disrupting their gas supplies to Europe.
In a vote on Thursday, the European Parliament determined that only companies with at least 5,000 workers and 1.5 billion euro ($1.75 billion) turnover should comply and removed the need for them to set out their plans to meet climate change commitments.
European Parliament representatives will still need to negotiate a final text with counterparts from EU governments.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by William Maclean)