Twelve years ago this April, the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring more than 2,000 in one of the largest workplace disasters in modern history.
The Rana Plaza tragedy fueled a global movement calling for mandatory human rights rules for businesses, which ultimately led the European Union in 2024 to adopt the EU Due Diligence Directive, requiring large companies to adhere to human rights and environmental standards in their own operations and their global value chains.
However, Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, who are leading coalition talks to form the country’s next government, has vowed to “prevent” the law, portraying it as an “unnecessary burden” for companies. The CDU also wants to do away with other EU supply chain laws designed to tackle forced labor, deforestation, and the trade in minerals used to finance brutal wars.
Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the other party in the coalition talks, should step up to preserve the EU Due Diligence Directive. Founded to protect workers’ rights, the SPD has long backed laws obliging companies to respect human rights in their supply chains, including the EU law.
As a powerhouse in the European Union, Germany could potentially destroy these protections, especially given the role of EU Commission President and CDU politician Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen previously supported the laws but has recently made a U-turn, and now proposes to reduce the EU Due Diligence Directive to a meaningless shell. Many businesses are opposing this U-turn.
The Rana Plaza collapse tragically underscores the failure of voluntary industry initiatives to protect workers’ safety and rights. Disasters in the mining sector, as well as child labor, environmental harm, and other abuses have further highlighted the need for change.
The SPD should seek to ensure that any coalition agreement includes a commitment to uphold the EU’s laws on human rights in global supply chains. If that is not possible, an SPD veto would force the new German coalition government to abstain during an EU vote on proposals to gut or eliminate the EU Due Diligence Directive.
The SPD should stand up for human rights and oppose the CDU’s destructive path. Victims of corporate abuse need the EU’s legal protections more than ever.