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Europe stands at a crossroads. Should it build its trade relations on fundamental values such as human rights, environmental sustainability, and labor rights—or align them with geopolitical interests? In our recent panel held in Berlin, we discussed the role of supply chains in German-Turkish relations.
Since the mid-2000s, expectations for sustainability and compliance with human rights standards in international trade and diplomacy have grown, particularly across the West.
There has been a strong push toward addressing climate impacts, human rights, democracy, pluralism, and inclusion. This vision was born from the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LKSG) and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). These regulations aim to legally guarantee corporate responsibility for human rights and environmental standards, rather than leaving it to voluntary initiatives.
However, in recent years, democratic values have come under increasing pressure worldwide. Politicians from the far right to the centre of the political spectrum have prioritised the alignment of trade partnerships with geopolitical and security interests.
Efforts to make supply chains more just now clash with this emerging geopolitical security paradigm. It’s a new phenomenon, and Europe must decide: Whether it will adopt a partnership model similar to that of the United States with countries like Turkey and others or stay committed to its founding values and binding regulations.
These questions were at the heart of a panel co-organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Istanbul and the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), held in Berlin on May 19, 2025.
The event, titled “Supply Chain Governance in German-Turkish Relations: Between Profit, Socio-Ecological Transformation, and Geopolitics,” examined how current supply chain regulations could shape the future of trade and whether these norms might conflict with or complement geopolitical interests.
Balancing democracy and resilience
Dawid Bartelt, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Turkey, opened the event by underlining that democracy is under global pressure. “International trade, environmental justice, occupational safety, and democracy are inseparable. Supply chain laws are a product of this holistic perspective, and we at HBS have strongly advocated for their adoption,” he said. He also emphasised the constrained space for civil society in Turkey and the country’s geopolitical ambitions.
Dr. Melanie Müller, Head of Middle East and Africa Research at SWP, noted that supply chains have become economic and strategic assets. “Pandemics, wars, and trade disputes have exposed the vulnerabilities of global supply networks. As a result, the EU has shifted toward ‘friend-shoring,’ relocating supply chains to trusted countries,” she explained. She added that with laws like the LkSG and CSDDD, the EU is trying to build resilience against geo-economic fragmentation through social and environmental norms.
Political scientist Dr. Yaşar Aydın, a researcher at SWP/CATS, stated that Turkey is working to align with EU supply chain regulations as part of its integration efforts. While noting ongoing shortcomings in labour law and environmental standards, especially in the textile and agriculture sectors, Aydın highlighted that many Turkish companies are improving their competitiveness through participation in social certification processes and performing well on labour law compliance.
According to Aydın, while bigger companies nowadays take a positive stance on compliance, smaller and medium enterprises still fear competition disadvantages through EU regulations on supply chains.
Panel discussion: Is values-based trade still possible?
Representing also the Turkish branch of her organisation that could not send a representative, Artemisa Ljarja from the international NGO Clean Clothes Campaign, gave many examples showing that working conditions and labour rights in Turkey are far from complying with the standards.
Lisa Pitz, a lawyer with the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, strongly defended the effectiveness of the LKSG and denied that it would lead to the much-mentioned “overbureaucratization”.
Green Party MP Andreas Audretsch suggested that the forthcoming harmonisation of supply chain regulation at the EU level will also contribute to less bureaucracy for the corporate sector. “Our policy is a Yes to less bureaucracy, but a no to deregulation of supply chains”, Audretsch said.
As a conclusion, the whole panel, moderated by former SWP fellow Dr. Jens Bastian, agreed that businesses and politics can – and should - sustain trade practices that respect human rights and the environment amid rising geopolitical pressure.
In the words of Pitz: “Companies must make profit, but they must not make profit through exploitation of workers and nature.”