Dear Commissioners Reynders and Breton,
We – a group of human rights, labour rights and development organizations – welcome the European Commission’s commitment to ensure that the economic recovery will be fairer and more sustainable as we come out of this unprecedented health crisis. In this letter, we wish to highlight the need to ensure responsible purchasing practices by businesses to ensure decent work conditions for workers in producing countries and a sustainable post-crisis economic recovery.
The COVID-19 crisis has evidenced the volatility and vulnerability of global supply chains. It has demonstrated how companies currently externalise risks and costs towards weaker supply chain partners. These business models and purchasing practices then, in turn, cause or contribute to adverse human rights impacts on workers, smallholders, communities and the environment, both in the EU and in third countries.