European Council adopts position to ban products made with forced labour from EU markets

Today, the European Council adopted a position in support of the European Commission’s proposal of ‘Prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market’, one week after Hong Kong Watch urged the European Council to do so. The proposal relates to the EU’s fundamental freedoms and export and import controls, as well as the human rights situation and democracy worldwide. 

The European Council introduced several amendments to the proposed text, including reinforcing the European Commission’s role in proving instances of forced labour and calling for the creation of a forced labour portal. Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne of the European Council, said, “With this regulation we want to make sure that there is no place for their products in our single market, whether they are manufactured in Europe or abroad. The Presidency ambitions to finish the interinstitutional negotiations before the end of this legislative term.”

Last week, Hong Kong Watch published a briefing, titled, Huawei and BYD Meet Hong Kong: Economic, Ethical, and Security Risks to the EU. The briefing exposes the risks of Huawei and BYD establishing their proposed factories in the EU, given their extensive links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Huawei and BYD are also both strongly connected to Hong Kong, where the rule of law is quickly deteriorating, as well as Xinjiang, where the EU recognises evidence of forced labour and crimes against humanity from the United Nations.

The briefing calls on the European Council to adopt the European Commission’s proposal to effectively ban Huawei and BYD products, and factories, from entering the EU market due to their connection to forced labour in Xinjiang. 

In December 2021, The Washington Post exposed Huawei’s links to Xinjiang after reviewing Huawei marketing presentations, which clearly demonstrated Huawei’s interest in helping the PRC monitor individuals of interest, manage ideological reeducation, help retailers track customers using facial recognition, and create labour schedules for prisoners.

Similarly, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and International Cyber Policy Centre’s report titled, Uyghurs for sale: ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang, lists BYD as one of 82 companies that benefits directly or indirectly from abusive labour transfer. Sheffield Hallam University’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, Nomogaia, and a team of international scholars also found that BYD is sourcing aluminium from Shandong Nanshan Aluminum, which is a parent company of a Uyghur Region subsidiary.

The European Parliament adopted a position in support of the proposal on 8 November 2023. Now that the European Council has joined the European Parliament in adopting the proposal, the European Commission will facilitate interinstitutional negotiations which are expected to start as soon as possible. 

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Watch, said: 

“Hong Kong Watch welcomes the European Council adopting this important proposal on banning products made with forced labour within EU markets. It is timely as we continue to call on the Institutions of the European Union to prevent Huawei and BYD, which are both connected to Xinjiang, from establishing factories in France and Hungary, respectively. 

“All Institutions of the European Union should continue to coordinate to fulfil their due diligence obligations, so that EU companies and their international partners are not complicit, intentionally or unintentionally, in the Chinese Communist Party’s egregious human rights violations.”

歐盟理事會通過立場禁止強迫勞動產品進入歐盟市場 香港監察繼續呼籲歐盟機構阻止華為、比亞迪在歐洲設廠

今天，歐盟理事會通過支持歐盟委員會《禁止強迫勞動製造的產品進入歐盟市場》提案的立場，一週前香港監察曾促請歐盟理事會這樣做。提案涉及歐盟的基本自由和進出口管制，以及全世界的人權狀況和民主。

歐盟理事會對有關提案提出數項修訂，包括加強歐盟委員會在證明使用強迫勞動事件上的作用，並呼籲建立強迫勞動一站式網上資訊平台。

上週，香港監察發表簡報，揭示中國企業華為和比亞迪與香港的關係及其對歐盟的經濟、道德和安全風險。簡報針對華為和比亞迪與中國共產黨和中華人民共和國政府的廣泛關係，揭露了其在歐盟設廠的風險。華為和比亞迪亦與香港及新疆有密切關係，香港的法治正迅速惡化，而歐盟認可聯合國所提供新疆強迫勞動和危害人類罪的證據。

簡報呼籲歐盟理事會通過歐盟委員會的提案，以華為和比亞迪與新疆強迫勞動有關為由，有效禁止其產品和工廠進入歐盟市場。

歐洲議會於2023年11月8日通過支持有關提案的立場。因歐盟理事會已與歐洲議會一樣通過提案，歐盟委員會將推進歐盟機構間談判，預料談判將儘快啟動。

香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）表示：

「香港監察歡迎歐盟理事會通過這項禁止強迫勞動製造產品進入歐盟市場的重要提案。歐盟理事會的決定及時，我們繼續呼籲歐盟機構阻止與新疆有關的華為和比亞迪分別在法國和匈牙利設廠。

所有歐盟機構都應繼續互相協調，履行盡職調查責任，確保歐盟企業及其國際合作夥伴不會有意或無意地參與中國共產黨極其嚴重的侵犯人權行為。」