Amazon’s Premises Are Banned By The European Parliament

(CTN News) – In response to multiple events in which Amazon representatives failed to attend meetings requested by European Parliament members, the European Parliament decided to ban Amazon representatives from entering its buildings on Tuesday (27 February), according to the European Parliament press service, confirmed Euractiv.

In accordance with rule 123/3 and at the request of the [Employment and Social Affairs Committee], the Quaestors have authorized the Secretary General [Alessandro Chiocchetti] to suspend the long-term access badges of interest representatives.

Currently, it is up to the secretary general to initiate the process of withdrawing their badges and to determine the length of the ban, according to a source close to the issue at the European Parliament.

A note from the Conference of Presidents, obtained by Euractiv, stated that there was already a majority of political groups in the European Parliament in support of taking such action.

Ultimately, the ban was finalized by the quaestors, which are the representatives of the European Parliament in administrative matters, namely, Monika Beňová, Fabienne Keller, and Marcel Kolaja.

A letter was sent to President Roberta Metsola by the committee on employment and social affairs of the European Parliament (EMPL) in early February,

Expressing concerns regarding Amazon’s attitude toward the EU institution.

EMPL chair Dragos Pîslaru, who signed the letter, reports that Amazon has refused to attend more than one meeting with EU lawmakers regarding the working conditions of its workers.

A parliamentary committee requested that Amazon representatives‘ badges be withdrawn, so that they may not access the premises of the European Parliament.

We would like to request that appropriate measures be put in place to withdraw access badges to the European Parliament’s premises for registered interest representatives considering repeated refusal to attend EMPL hearings,” Pîslaru stated.

In the letter, four cases are discussed. In May 2021, Amazon failed to attend a meeting of a parliamentary committee on “attacks on fundamental workers’ rights and freedoms: freedom of association and assembly, and the right to collective bargaining”.

Secondly, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos refused to attend a meeting with EU lawmakers and instead sent a written reply.

In December 2023 and January 2024, the last two episodes occurred. An MEP was denied access to Amazon’s facilities in Germany and Poland in the former case, while the company chose not to attend another parliamentary committee meeting regarding Amazon’s workplace conditions in the latter case.

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