All 27 European Union member countries have agreed to push for radical cuts to ethical supply chain rules, setting the stage for tense negotiations with other EU institutions later this year.
It continues a growing trend of cutting back environmental laws to reduce the regulatory burden on business and boost the bloc’s sluggish economy.
On Monday evening, EU ambassadors endorsed the Council of the EU’s position on the first omnibus simplification bill, a proposal for sweeping cuts to EU green rules that is one of the first major bills of Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as European Commission president.
Green groups and some European lawmakers already considered the Commission’s original proposal too weak — now, member countries want it to be even laxer.
