On Monday 3 April 2017, the European Council adopted legislation on the responsible supply of minerals linked to conflict.
The adoption of this regulation concludes a three-year legislative process at the heart of European civil society.
Several organisations such as Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg, ASTM (Action Solidarité Tiers Monde), Caritas Luxembourg and the Fondation Partage Luxembourg, have defended a compulsory system of due diligence for concerned businesses with the introduction of the regulation, and one that is in accordance with the standards of the United Nations Economic Co-operation and Development Organisation (OECD).
The wishes of these organisations have partially been met by the new legislation developed within the framework of the meetings.
Indeed, the EU has committed itself to creating a space of transparency within European supply chains containing mineral resources in order to guarantee that the wealth extracted benefits everyone equally. Currently, the four minerals in question are tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, due to their link to illegal international trafficking.
In addition to the dry loss this creates for the local authorities, such trafficking also provides a significant source of income for armed groups of the artisanal mines in this region.
More generally, mineral extraction and trade are linked to conflict and human rights abuses, such as massacres or the exploitation of children around the world. The EU is a major destination for minerals imported into Europe and components of everyday products, such as phones, laptops, and particularly in jewellery chains.
Drawing on guidelines on the OECD's "duty of diligence", the European Parliament has therefore improved the European Commission’s proposal by voting for the establishment of a binding system, obliging European companies to ensure that their mineral supplies are mined under conditions that respect human rights.
Nevertheless, civil society, such as Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg, will also ask the European institutions to commit themselves, during the UN Human Rights Council discussions, to a more ambitious position regarding the binding treaty on human rights treaty and transnational corporations, as part of a new attempt to regulate global supply chains.
As for Luxembourg’s position on the new legislation, Minister Jean Asselborn stated in parliament in June 2016 that the Grand Duchy had participated in European-level negotiations “for a serious, effective and balanced eradication of violations of fundamental rights in connection with the extraction and trade of these ores and metals.”
