2021: A New Year Marked by New Rules against Conflict Minerals in the EU

Feb 25, 2021 | Agathe Smyth
View Original

While the news did not make the headlines, 1 January 2021 marked the culmination of a long civil society campaign as new European legislation on the responsible sourcing of minerals came into force. Since that date, European Union based companies that import minerals have been officially required to ensure due diligence. But what does this imply concretely? And what will this really change in Europe and in the conflict zones?

The regulation has been a long standing demand of both civil society and the European Parliament, both of which have regularly highlighted the absence of any obligation for European companies to verify where the minerals they buy come from. It was finally adopted in 2017.

The new regulation is based on legislation and recommendations that have been existence since 2010 in the United States (see Title XV of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act) and member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It aims to better regulate the importation of four specific minerals on European soil: tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (collectively known as ‘3TG’). These four minerals (or metals depending on their composition) are particularly targeted, because in some countries their exploitation helps to finance armed groups or leads to violations of human rights, including labour rights. However, they are found in many everyday consumer products, especially in electronics.

This diligence primarily concerns procurement from ‘conflict or high risk areas’. This means areas weakened by an armed conflict, current or recent, those suffering from weak or non-existent governance or security, or from current and systematic violations of international law, including human rights. They are theoretically not limited to a particular continent or geographic region. An indicative and non-exhaustive list published by the European Commission currently lists 27 countries, including for example the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia and Afghanistan. The list is produced by a research office and is to be updated every quarter.