The French government is obstructing implementation of landmark corporate accountability legislation in the European Union, despite continued evidence of major French companies’ links to human rights abuses.
On February 6, an investigation by French media outlet Disclose, in collaboration with the television program Cash Investigation, revealed that clothing products manufactured for leading French sport retailer Decathlon had come from factories in China using Uyghur forced labor.
The investigation found that a subsidiary of a key Decathlon supplier operated a factory in Xinjiang, where it participated in Chinese government-sponsored labor transfer programs, where Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are coerced into moving to urban areas to work in factories. The supplier has also received transferred Uyghur workers at its facilities in Shandong province.
Human Rights Watch has documented how the Chinese government has committed crimes against humanity against Uyghurs in Xinjiang since 2017, including forced labor.
The Disclose investigation claimed Decathlon was aware of possible forced labor in its supply chain since 2021 but failed to take necessary steps to address it. Decathlon told Human Rights Watch on February 10 that “any allegation that undermines our principles is rigorously examined with a thorough investigation conducted by our own compliance teams and external parties.” The company did not respond to a question from Human Rights Watch as to whether it continues to source from the supplier that the Disclose investigation linked to Uyghur forced labor. Such links should prompt Decathlon to immediately disengage.
In 2024, the EU adopted two major laws to address companies’ complicity in human rights abuses. The first, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), requires large corporations to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence in their global supply chains. The second bans imports of goods produced through forced labor. Both laws are set to take effect in 2027.
Unfortunately, European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen, with support from the French and German governments, is pushing for an “omnibus” proposal that risks weakening the due diligence directive and two other laws.
Decathlon’s links to forced labor shows the EU that human rights abuses can reach very close to home. Instead of undermining corporate accountability efforts, France should ensure that the European Union remains at the forefront of the fight against forced labor and other human rights abuses worldwide.