Criticism of European Parliament's recent decisions on sourcing conflict minerals

The International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE) has criticized the recent decisions made by the European Parliament on the sourcing of Conflict Minerals.

The CIDSE has launched a stinging attack on the law passed by the EP’s Committee on International Trade. Through a public statement posted on their website, they said: “Today the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) wasted a ground-breaking opportunity to tackle the deadly trade in conflict minerals. The Committee voted in favour of a weak and ineffective law that, if passed, would undermine global attempts to clean up the trade.”

The proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union system for supply chain due diligence self-certification of responsible importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, included 627 amendments and was approved on 14 April 2015 by INTA.

Although the Development organization, an international alliance of 17 Catholic agencies, applauds the efforts of a mandatory approach, they also lament the narrow scope of the new legislation, arguing that it will fail to “make any meaningful and lasting impact on a trade that fuels conflict and Human Rights abuses.”

Conflict minerals are known as columbite-tantalite, or coltan (from which tantalum is derived); cassiterite (tin); gold; wolframite (tungsten); or their derivatives. They are considered raw materials coming from a particular part of the world where conflict is happening.

In his 2013 acceptance speech of the Sakharov Prize, Dr. Denis Mukwege pointed at the importance of conflict minerals when referring to the East Congo conflict: “In reality, this conflict is not about ethnicity, but it is a territorial conflict about mineral resources.”

The CIDSE said: “Under this proposal, responsible sourcing by importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold would be entirely optional. The Commission's proposed voluntary self-certification scheme would be open to approximately 300-400 companies—just 0.05% of companies using and trading these minerals in the EU, and would have virtually no impact on companies' sourcing behaviour.”

They demanded a reassessment of their new legislation, suggesting a legal requirement for responsible sourcing, which would force companies who place minerals on the EU market into sourcing their minerals transparently.

According to the CIDSE: “This would put the European Union at the forefront of global efforts to create more transparent, responsible and sustainable business practices. It would also better align Europe with existing international standards on responsible sourcing, and complement mandatory requirements in the US and in twelve African countries.”

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