In addition to the German supply chain law, there is now a European one. Both mean a great deal of bureaucracy forthe approximately 5,000 companies in the WSM industries. "The companies know about the importance of human rights and work hard to meet the conditions. However, many have not even fully completed this elaborate process, and Brussels is already coming up with even tougher conditions," says WSM CEO Christian Vietmeyer. The steel and metal processing companies in his sectors are hopelessly overburdened with this, he said. "Because ultimately, not only those companies that fall within the direct scope of the law are affected, but also their suppliers. Customers simply pass the obligations on to them."
The new EU supply chain law not only brings SMEs more into the liability norms and extends due diligence obligations beyond the circle of suppliers to customers. Vietmeyer considers this further aggravation to be excessive: "From the companies' point of view, the effort involved is unacceptable; no one can afford that. The German government must prevent further burdens on German SMEs."