1 Amendments of Åsa WESTLUND related to 2011/0308(COD)
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 34 a (new)
Recital 34 a (new)
(34a) In several places across the globe, for example in the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed conflicts are closely linked to revenues from the illegal exploitation of minerals. Breaking this link would contribute to reducing the incidence and intensity of conflicts. One solution could be to oblige EU undertakings which source minerals from areas plagued by or at risk of conflict to carry out due diligence in order to ensure that their supply chains have no connections to the conflicting parties. While an initiative along those lines would have to fully respect the interests of local stakeholders, the EITI as well as the OECD's recommendations on due diligence and responsible supply chain management could serve as useful points of reference. In order to get a better picture of this potential solution, it is important that the feasibility and expected impact of introducing such an obligation is further investigated in the EU context.