Mr. Neil Willoughby:

I will speak briefly on the regulatory burden for SMEs. I do not have time to go into examples and details but there is a lot of competing EU legislation in this space. We are talking today about the CSR and CSDD directives. There is also legislation on deforestation and the forced labour product ban. Other legislation is already in place. The amount of legislation can be a big challenge for SMEs to grasp in terms of support. Often, they are not directly in scope but indirectly have those commitments. While cost supports certainly would be very welcome, so would the provision of expertise and support. I know the two things can go together.

The issue of terminations is a critical one that needs to be looked at. There are significant issues for businesses in it. There are third countries with legislation that directly contradicts the corporate sustainability due diligence directive. For example, China has legislation that effectively means there is a block on the ability of companies that operate there to comply with it. Looking at the feasibility of that and working with companies to find a solution for that is critically important to ensure that they can follow it. The issue of responsibility in respect of terminations is critically clear. One of the big reasons our members do not want to see mandatory terminations introduced is because of a situation where we will see potentially better outcomes in many cases where companies take responsibility and work with their suppliers in the situation in order to find a positive outcome.