Setting the record straight about our engagement with the European Parliament

Amazon has a strong history of collaboration with the European Parliament, and we’re proud of the contributions we make across the continent. We’re disappointed—despite repeated attempts to engage constructively with members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs—that the decision has been taken to withdraw Amazon employees’ access badges to the European Parliament.

We always treat our responsibilities to the Parliament and other institutions seriously, and we agree that a company such as ours—with over 150,000 employees in the EU alone—should be scrutinised. We welcome that scrutiny because we think it helps make us better. That’s why we’ve shared extensive information about our operations, repeatedly hosted members of Parliament in our facilities, and why we’ve also offered to host members of the Committee on several different occasions. We’re confident that we’ve engaged in a constructive spirit, unlike some critics who seem more concerned with scoring a win than progressing the understanding of important issues. Here is some more information about our engagements.

Participating in Parliamentary activities

Amazon regularly participates in activities organised by the Parliament, including providing evidence at hearings, and we have repeatedly expressed our willingness to engage in constructive dialogue on policy issues impacting our industry.

In this parliamentary term alone, Amazon has participated in several substantial European Parliament activities on topics ranging from the Digital Services Act to European anti-counterfeit policies. We also volunteered to participate in a case study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, which focused on our Fulfilment Centres, and included opportunities for the Commission’s researchers to interview Amazon employees, worker representatives, and management.

While it’s accurate that we declined to participate in a session that was clearly one-sided and not designed to encourage constructive debate or objective scrutiny, we disagree with the assertion that Amazon has refused to engage with policymakers on the specific topics under discussion, as the exchange of multiple letters, emails and phone calls since last summer demonstrates. We agree with the Committee that it’s important to have standards for a modern, safe and clean working environment. 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.

Visiting our facilities

Over the years, we have welcomed hundreds of policymakers—including MEPs that sit on the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs—to our operations sites and offices. In 2023 alone, we extended dozens of invitations to visit our facilities to Committee members and staff.

The Committee’s assertion that Amazon “withdrew” or “canceled” a visit is inaccurate. In fact, as Chairman Pislaru noted in a letter earlier this year, Amazon expressed “willingness to host the delegation”. However, from the outset of our discussions with the Employment and Social Affairs Committee Secretariat regarding a visit, we conveyed the challenges of hosting a large delegation during the retail “Peak Season,” which begins in November and extends through the end of January. The Committee’s availability was unfortunately limited to 18th and 20th December - both within a week of Christmas. Because this is the busiest time of year for our business, we were unable to accommodate their request and offered to arrange alternative dates. We have since repeated our offer to arrange for Committee members to visit our facilities, before and after the exchange of views. We remain ready to host the Committee at our facilities, including in Germany, Poland or elsewhere in the EU, should it accept our invitation.

We want to continue engaging with members of the European Parliament on important issues affecting industries where we are active. We also want to reassure our customers and European policymakers that we seek to find a way to resolve the concerns of Committee members. It is our sincere hope that we can continue to engage with MEPs proactively and amicably, as we have done for more than a quarter of a century.

In addition, we welcome anyone to tour one of our facilities in person in Germany, Italy or the UK, or on a live virtual tour from anywhere across Europe.

You can find out more details about how you can sign up here.