Commentary: "EU countries must not weaken plan to stop conflict minerals trade"
Last year the European Parliament voted in favour of a strong regulation that would help fight trade in conflict minerals, but member states have been looking to weaken the plans. We cannot let this happen.High-level negotiations have gone behind closed doors in a trialogue process where the regulation is being watered down and rendered almost meaningless to those affected by this bloody trade. The next trialogue takes place this Monday 5 April – it is high time to make negotiators realise the impact of watering down the regulation voted by elected EU representatives in the parliament...Member states and EU political leaders must now support a mandatory due diligence requirement for companies along the entire supply chain of products containing these minerals. They must support rules that align with the OECD’s due diligence guidance. Meanwhile, companies working downstream of metal importers, especially those that place products containing these minerals on the EU market, must be part of this process...