The Potential Consequences of Doing Business with PRC Firms for Belgian Companies

The suffering of the Uyghur minority in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and
testimonies demonstrating that they are victims of forced labour on a massive scale have
triggered all kinds of policy reactions in the West, whereby due diligence obligations are
imposed on companies that are trading with PRC firms to make sure that there is no forced
labour benefitting their supply chains. France has been the first country to issue such regulation
and has been followed by the Netherlands, Germany and the United States, in various forms.
A legislative proposal has also been submitted in Belgium, while the European Commission
has presented its proposal for a directive. On top of this, both reputational and legal issues have
arisen for multinationals companies.

The European Foundation for Democracy is addressing this topic through a project, and organising dedicated events with several Uyghur associations.

The author of this paper is Pieter Cleppe, Vice-President of Belgian think tank Libera.

This publication can be read here.