The access badges were withdrawn in February last year at request of the Parliament’s Employment committee.
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Amazon representatives will likely be grilled in the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) at the end of June as part of a precondition to grant the Tech Giant access to the Parliament’s premises again, sources familiar with the matter told Euronews.
Amazon lost its 14 long-term Parliament access badges in February 2024 following a call from the EMPL committee. The lawmakers asked for the measure after the company failed to attend a series of hearings and factory visits in 2021 and 2023 about workers’ rights.
The EMPL committee is likely to confirm the hearing date as well as the speakers in early June.
Last November the Parliament said Amazon must attend a hearing and arrange for MEPs to visit one of its fulfilment centres before it would consider lifting the restrictions.
During its previous five-year mandate, the EMPL committee twice invited Amazon to discuss working conditions in its EU facilities. But in May 2021 and January 2024, the company declined the invitations. Planned visits to facilities in Poland and Germany scheduled for December 2023 also never took place.
Amazon said in a previous statement that it treats its responsibilities to the Parliament and other institutions “seriously”, and that it agrees “that a company such as ours—with over 150,000 employees in the EU alone—should be scrutinised.”
“We also believe that it’s important to scrutinise the whole industry in addition to individual companies, and to have sessions that are designed to understand facts, not just make political points,” the statement said.
