Activities of Marisa MATIAS related to 2022/0269(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market
Amendments (53)
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) As recognised in the Preamble to the 2014 Protocol to Convention No. 29 on forced labour (‘ILO Convention No. 29’) of the International Labour Organization (‘ILO’), forced labour constitutes a serious violation of human dignity and fundamental human rights and stands in the way of the achievement of decent work for all. The ILO declared the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour as a principle concerning the fundamental rights. The ILO classifies ILO Convention No. 29, the 2014 Protocol to Convention No. 29 supported by the Forced Labour (Supplementary Measures) Recommendation (No. 203) and the ILO Convention No.105 on the abolition of forced labour (‘ILO Convention No.105’) as fundamental ILO Conventions16 . Forced labour covers a wide variety of coercive labour practices where work or service is exacted from any persons under the threat have not offered it themselves voluntarily.17of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.17 The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly found that, under Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, initial consent and voluntariness become null and void if there is an abuse of position of vulnerability. __________________ 16 https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introd uction-to-international-labour- standards/conventions-and- recommendations/lang--en/index.htm. 17 The ILO definition of forced labour according to the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1920 (No. 29), What is forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking (Forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking) (ilo.org).
Amendment 42 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The use of forced labour is widespread in the world. It is estimated that about 27.6 million people, including 3.3 million children and 11.8 million women and girls, were in forced labour in 2021.18 Vulnerable and marginalised groups in a society are particularly susceptible to be pressured into performing forced labour. Even when it is not state imposed, forced labour is often a consequence of a lack of good governance of certain economic operators, such as women, children, migrants (in particular if they are undocumented or with a precarious status or in the informal economy), ethnic minorities, lower castes, indigenous and tribal peoples, are particularly susceptible to be pressured into performing forced labour. Even when it is not state imposed, forced labour is often a consequence of root causes such as poverty, discrimination, weak governance and democracy, lack of welfare and decent employment conditions and opportunities, as well as lack of legal migration pathways. In particular, unfair purchasing practices by economic operators can lead to labour rights violations down the supply chain and, ultimately, to forced labour. __________________ 18 The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public /---ed_norm/--- ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854733. pdf.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) The ILO forced labour instruments, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children and the Global Compact for Migration, together make clear that trafficking in persons for the purpose of forced labour cannot be eliminated through criminal law enforcement alone. Rather, a broad multidisciplinary approach is needed that is grounded in adherence to human rights, encompassing the need for effective gender- and age-responsive measures. Such measures, along with criminal justice responses, should focus on preventing and addressing the root causes of forced labour and on ensuring protection and remedies for the people already affected by it.
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union recognises the right for every worker to fair and just working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity.
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) The Anti-trafficking Directive (Directive 2011/36/EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council21 (the Anti- trafficking Directive) harmonises the definition of trafficking in human beings, including forced labour or services, and establishes minimum penalties. Any rules laid down concerning the prohibition of placing and making available on the Union market domestic or imported products made with forced labour, or exporting such products, and the obligation to ensure that such products are withdrawn from the Union market (‘the prohibition’), should be without prejudice to that Directive, and in particular to the competence of law enforcement and judicial authorities to investigate and prosecute offences on trafficking in human beings, including labour exploitation, as well as preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, particularly by strengthening victims’ rights in the areas of non-punishment, assistance and support, safe reporting, complaint mechanisms and remedies including compensation. __________________ 21 Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA, OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p.1.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12a) Promoting decent work and a human-centred future of work ensuring the respect of fundamental principles and human rights, promoting social dialogue as well as the ratification and effective implementation of relevant ILO conventions and protocols, strengthening responsible management in global supply chains and access to social protection are core priorities of the Union as enshrined in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (’SMEs’) can have limited resources and ability to ensure that the products they place or make available on the Union market are free from forced labour. The Commission should therefore issue guidelines on due diligence in relation to forced labour, which should take into account also the size and economic resources of economic operators. In addition, the Commission should issue guidelines on forced-labour risk indicators and on publicly available information in order to help SMEs, as well as other economic operators, to comply with the requirements of the prohibition.
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) When identifying potential violations of the prohibition, the Commission and competent authorities should follow a risk-based approach and assess all information available to them. CThe Commission and competent authorities should initiate an investigation where, based on their assessment of all available information, they establish that there is a substantiated concerreasonable suspicion of a violation of the prohibition.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Competent authorities, when requesting information during the investigation, should prioritiseidentify to the extent possible and consistent with the effective conduct of the investigation the responsibilities of all economic operators under investigation that are involved in the steps of the value chain as close as possible to where the likely risk of forced labour occurs and take into account the size and economic resources of the economic operators,nd the quantity of products concerned, as well as the scale of suspected forced labour.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Competent authoritieEconomic operators should bear the burden of establishing that forced labour has been used at any stage of production, manufacture, harvest or extraction of a product, transport and storage including working or processing related to the product on the basis of all information and evidence gathered during the investigation, including its preliminary phase. To ensure their right to due process, economic operators should have the opportunity to provide information in their defence to the competent authorities throughout the investigation.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) CThe Commission and competent authorities that establish that economic operators violated the prohibition, should without delay prohibit the placing and making available of such products on the Union market and their export from the Union, and require the economic operators that have been investigated to withdraw the relevant products already made available from the Union market and have them destroyed, rendered inoperable, or otherwise disposed of in accordance with national law consistent with Union law, including Union legislation on waste managementthe relevant products should be seized. The cost of their storage should be borne by the economic operator and the products disposed of in accordance with national law consistent with Union law, including destining its proceeds to victims and victims’ associations for the purpose of social re-use.
Amendment 85 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) The Commission should issue guidelines in order to facilitate the implementation of the prohibition by economic operators and competent authorities. Such guidelines should include guidance on due diligence in relation to forced labour and complementary information for the Commission and the competent authorities to implement the prohibition. The guidance on due diligence in relation to forced labour should build on the Guidance on due diligence for Union businesses to address the risk of forced labour in their operations and supply chains published by the Commission and the European External Action Service in July 2021. The guidelines should be consistent with other Commission guidelines in this regard and relevant international organisations’ guidelines such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The reports from international organisations, in particular the ILO, as well as other independent and verifiable sources of information should be considered for the identification of risk indicators.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) To ensure effective enforcement decisions taken by the Commission or a competent authority in one Member State should be recognised and enforced by competent authorities in the other Member States regarding products withfrom the same identification from the same supply chaiproduction site, company, group of companies or region for which forced labour has been found.
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) To ensure effective enforcement of the prohibition, it is necessary to establish a centralised complaint mechanism at Union level as well as a network aimed at structured coordination and cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States and, where appropriate, experts from customs authorities, and the Commission. That network should also aim at streamlining the practices of the competent authorities within the Union that facilitate the implementation of joint enforcement activities by Member States, including joint investigations. That administrative support structure should allow the pooling of resources and maintain a communication and information system between Member States and the Commission, thereby helping to strengthen the enforcement of the prohibition.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
1. This Regulation lays down: (a) rules prohibiting economic operators from importing, placing and making available on the Union market or exporting from the Union market products made with forced labour, and (b) rules for remedial obligations for importers and economic operators for instances where forced labour is found.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) ‘forced labour imposed by state authorities’ means the use of forced labour as described in Article 1 of the Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 (No. 105) of the International Labour Organization, including the punishment for the expression of political views, for the purposes of economic development, as a means of labour discipline, as punishment for participation in strikes, or as a means of racial, religious or other discrimination;
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) ‘due diligence in relation to forced labour’ means the efforts by economic operator to implement mandatory requirements, mandatory and voluntary guidelines, recommendations or practices to identify, prevent, mitigate or, remediate and bring to an end the use of forced labour in their operations and value chain with respect to products that are to be made available on the Union market, imported or to be exported; bringing to an end forced labour shall not mean disengagement as first resort;
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) ‘root causes of forced labour’ means at the level of a country or region, the issues of economic exploitation, poverty, systemic discrimination and the lack of regular and decent labour migration pathways among others. At the level of an economic operator, it includes prices below the cost of production, the lack of living incomes and living wages and more generally any unfair purchasing practices;
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
(cb) ‘meaningful engagement with workers and stakeholders’ means an interactive, responsive, ongoing and gender-inclusive process of engagement with potentially affected suppliers, workers and their representative organisations, as well as other stakeholders, such as civil society organisations including trade unions and NGOs and local communities, with particular attention to vulnerable stakeholders, such as workers who are undocumented or in the irregular economy, smallholders, and indigenous peoples;
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f
(f) ‘product’ means any product or services that can be valued in money and is capable, as such, of forming the subject of commercial transactions, whether it is performed, extracted, harvested, produced or, manufactured, transported or stored, including working or processing related to a product at any stage of its supply chain;
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point k
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point k
(k) ‘product supplier’ means any natural or legal person or association of persons in the supply chain who performs services, extracts, harvests, produces or, manufactures, transports or stores a product in whole or in part, or intervenes in the working or processing related to a product at any stage of its supply chain, whether as manufacturer or in any other circumstances;
Amendment 111 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point u a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point u a (new)
(ua) ‘forced labour risk areas’ means those countries or regions where there is evidence of wide-spread and/or systemic forced labour, including state-imposed forced labour, in an entire product group in a specific industry;
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point u b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point u b (new)
(ub) ‘stakeholders’ means: (i) workers who might be impacted by the product ban; (ii) other third parties with legitimate interest or whose rights or interests are or could be affected, such as communities, as well as civil society actors including trade unions, workers organisations and NGOs; other legal or natural persons defending human rights (‘human rights defenders’), including individuals, groups and organs of society that promote and protect universally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms and labour conventions, indigenous peoples or other vulnerable stakeholders; and (iii) organisations whose statutory purpose is the defence of human rights;
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) prioritise the economic operators under investigation involved in the steps of the value chain as close as possible to where the likely risk of forced labour occurs andidentify the individual responsibilities, along the value chain, of different economic operators down to the level where forced labour is taking place and prioritise the economic operators under investigation involved in the steps of the value chain with the most leverage in terms of economic turnover, to prevent, mitigate, remediate and bring to an end forced labour in their operations and value chains;
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – point b
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. When deciding on the time limits referred to in this Article, competent authorities shall consider Once the competent authority initiates an investigation, it shall assess the possible impacts of any decision to be adopted pursuant to Article 6(4) on the affected workers. That assessment shall be carried out with the meaningful engagement of affected workers and third parties legitimately representing their interests, such as trade unions and civil society organisations but also withe size and economic resources of the economic operators concernedpecialised local and international NGOs, local authorities, community members, community-level monitoring programmes, governments’ officials and labour inspectorates, most notably the actors that the workers perceive as their legitimate representatives.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point c a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – point c a (new)
(ca) an order for the economic operator to provide remediation to affected workers according to their individual responsibilities as identified under Article 5(3). The remediation plan and its implementation strategy shall be agreed upon between competent authorities, upon meaningful consultation of affected workers and stakeholders.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 6
Article 6 – paragraph 6
6. Where economic operators provide evidence to the competent authorities that they have complied with the decision referred to in paragraph 4, and that they have provided remedy in accordance with Article 6a and eliminated forced labour from their operations or supply chain with respect to the products concerned, and that sustainable and effective processes have been put in place to prevent harms from continuing or taking place again in the future, the competent authorities shall withdraw their decision for the future and inform the economic operators.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
At the exception of situations of State- imposed forced labour, the obligation to eliminate forced labour cannot be fulfilled by simply disengaging from their operators. Pursuing prevention, minimisation and remediation efforts where appropriate, shall be sought if there is reasonable expectation that these efforts are to succeed in accordance with a joint time-bound plan.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
Termination of the business relationship with respect to the activities concerned shall only be considered if the potential adverse impact is severe and repeated prevention and mitigation attempts did not lead to meaningful action by the partner in question, or when ceasing the impact is impossible, in particular due to a state- imposed nature. Economic operators shall engage meaningfully with stakeholders impacted by the decision especially affected workers - to disengage before reaching this decision, and shall address the adverse impacts related to the decision to disengage and pursue remediation of past adverse impacts where appropriate.
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6a Evidence of remediation measures shall include evidence of the following: (a) financial and non-financial compensation, including payment of all due wages and compensation for moral and material damages based on the duration and extent of the forced labour, and any harms suffered; (b) restitution for the victims, to restore their position before the forced labour took place, including relevant arrangements for restoring, renewing and/or obtaining relevant documents such as visas and work permits, and returning their passport and any other personal documents; (c) rehabilitation, for example, provision of treatment or counselling; (d) effective preventative measures and guarantees of non-reoccurrence of forced labour; and where it is accompanied by one or more of the above measures, apologies; (e) other remediation measures as agreed upon by affected workers and stakeholders and the economic operators; Evidence that remediation measures have been correctly implemented shall be obtained in consultation of the affected workers and stakeholders and their representatives.
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) a reasonable time limit for the economic operators to comply with the order, which shall not be less than 30 working days and no longer than necessary to withdraw the respective products. When setting such a time limit, the Commission or competent authority shall where relevant take into account the economic operator’s size and economic resourcesdue diligence plans and the likelihood of the appropriate measures contained in this plan to end the forced labour within a reasonable time;
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. Economic operators and third parties that have been affected by a decision of a competent authority pursuant to this Regulation shall have access to a court to review the procedural and substantive legality of the decision.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Submissions of information by any natural or legal person or any association not having legal personality, to competent authorities on alleged violations of Article 3The Commission shall establish a centralised complaint mechanism to receive complaints and information regarding alleged or suspected forced labour, taking place within or outside the Union, from any natural or legal person, including workers or others affected or potentially affected by forced labour, civil society organisations including trade unions, affected communities, and any other individual or group that may have information regarding goods which are alleged or suspected to be made by forced labour. Complaints shall contain information on the economic operators or products concerned and provide the reasons substantiating the allegation.
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Complaints may be lodged anonymously. The Commission and competent authorities shall ensure that all mechanisms through which workers who are victims or witness forced labour may lodge complaints and participate in relevant proceedings, allow them to do so without fearing retaliation of any sort, to enforce their rights and prerogatives, in particular their right to remediation under Article 6a of this Regulation and, when applicable, other EU legislation, without prejudice to Directive 2004/81/EC, Directive 2009/52/EC, Directive 2011/36/EU and Directive 2012/29/EU. These rights shall not be made conditional on the affected workers’ residence status, or on their citizenship or nationality.
Amendment 149 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
The Commission shall determine the rules and procedure to assign complaints to the competent authorities. These rules shall take into account the specifics of the complaint, the domicile of the economic operator and the capacities of the competent authorities in concerned Member States. The Commission may retain the power to investigate, in particular when multiple Member States are involved, investigations in third countries are needed and when related to state-imposed forced labour and when the investigation concerns a supply chain present in more than one Member State.
Amendment 166 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 4
Article 12 – paragraph 4
4. The Commission shall make the list of the designated competent authorities and of the Central Complain Mechanism publicly available on its website and shall regularly update that list, based on the updates received from Member States.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 2
Article 13 – paragraph 2
2. CThe Central Complaint Mechanism and competent authorities shall actively participate in the Network referred to in Article 24.
Amendment 169 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
1. Decisions taken by the Commission or a competent authority in one Member State shall be recognised and enforced by competent authorities in the other Member States in so far as they relate to products with the same identification and from the same supply chain for which forced labour has been found.
Amendment 170 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
2. Customs authorities shall be provided with information identifying the product, information about the manufacturer, transporter, storage company, importer or the producer and information about the product suppliers as regards products entering or leaving the Union market that have been identified by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 1, unless the provision of such information is already required pursuant to customs legislation referred to in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 1
Article 20 – paragraph 1
Where the release for free circulation or export of a product has been refused in accordance with Article 19, customs authorities shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the product concerned is disposed of in accordance with national law consistent with Union law. Articles 197 and 198 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 shall apply accordingly, destining its proceeds to victims and victims’ associations for the purpose of social re-use.
Amendment 175 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) guidance on due diligence in relation to forced labour, which shall take into account applicable Union legislation setting out due diligence requirements with respect to forced labour, guidelines and recommendations from international organisations,including forced child labour and forced women and girls labour, guidelines and recommendations from international organisations, civil society organisations and existing collaborative multi-stakeholders experiences as well as the size and economic resources of economic operators;
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) guidelines to set up an economic mapping process;
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
Article 23 – paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
(eb) guidance for stakeholders to file a complaint and participate in relevant proceedings;
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point d
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point d
(d) contribute to the development of guidance to ensure the effective and uniform application of this Regulation, as well as coordinate dissemination efforts in and outside the EU;
Amendment 196 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point f a (new)
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point f a (new)
(fa) promote collaboration and exchange with relevant existing multi- stakeholders’ collaborative initiatives;
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point f b (new)
Article 24 – paragraph 3 – point f b (new)
(fb) setting up mechanisms for continuous engagement with third countries, as to support implementation of regulation by addressing root causes of forced labour;
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 2
Article 25 – paragraph 2
2. Where requested, tThe Commission, Member States and competent authorities shall treat the identity of those who provide information, or the information provided, as confidential. A request for confidentiality shall be accompanied by a non-confidential summary of the information supplied or by a statement of the reasons why the information cannot be summarised in a non-confidential mannerIf information is provided by children in forced labour, child protection and safeguarding policies shall be put in place as well as forced child labour monitoring mechanisms, including child- oriented protocols for inspections and follow up.
Amendment 201 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 1
Article 26 – paragraph 1
1. In order to facilitate effective implementation and enforcement of this Regulation and to jointly work on tackling forced labour and its root causes, the Commission mayshall as appropriate cooperate, engage and exchange information with, amongst others, authorities of third countries, international organisations, business organisations and civil society representatives and business organisationincluding trade unions, workers’ rights organisations, NGOs and networks of affected stakeholders. International cooperation with authorities of third countries shall take place in a structured way as part of the existing dialogue structures with third countries or, if necessary, specific ones that will be created on an ad hoc basis.
Amendment 207 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 2
Article 26 – paragraph 2
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, cooperation with, amongst others, international organisations, civil society representatives, business organisations and competent authorities of third countries mayshall result in the Union developing accompanying measures to support the efforts of companies and partner countries efforts and locally available capacities in tackling forced labour.
Amendment 209 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
The Commission and Member States shall develop cooperation and partnership mechanisms with third countries to address the root causes of forced labour, and build the capacity of upstream economic actors to respond to the requirements under this Regulation.
Amendment 210 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
Article 26 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 b (new)
The competent authorities and the Commission shall also cooperate with relevant authorities of third countries to carry out investigations, as well as coordinate when it is relevant with investigations made by other countries and align with decisions made by other international entities. Member States’ competent authorities and the Commission shall actively exchange knowledge and intelligence with third- country governments.
Amendment 217 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 30 – paragraph 2
Article 30 – paragraph 2
2. The penalties provided forshall take the form of fines and its amount shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The collected fines shall be used to create compensation funds.