MEPs attempt to break the link between European end-users of precious minerals and the conflict countries they may come from. But are they pushing due diligence too far? The rapporteur answers.

Dangers of tapping gold, tungsten and tin in conflict zones

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/12048900/n003-0352-en.srt

MEPs have pushed for tough certification

showing the origin of minerals used by  manufacturers of our everyday goods.

They're worried the metals -  gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum -

may originate from conflict zones  like the Democratic Republic of Congo

and that the trade may be  fuelling the conflict itself.

But is the decision  to go for mandatory due diligence,

affecting potentially hundreds of thousands  of businesses in Europe, a step too far?

The MEP steering the file through  Parliament, Iuliu Winkler, thinks so.

Let me ask you first of all, Mr Winkler,

people talk quite a lot about conflict  minerals and conflict diamonds.

Could you give me some specific examples  of the sort of problems out there

that you here in Europe want to address?

It's the situation that  you can find on the ground

for example in the Democratic  Republic of Congo.

I want to emphasise - in brackets - that  the regulation proposed by the Commission

does not refer to a specific country but to  all possible conflict areas, also in the future.

But the best known and most tragic  situation now is in Congo,

and you can see there  so-called artisanal mines,

so-called informal miners, people who are  working in the worst possible conditions

to extract minerals,  which are then traded, smelted,

and transformed into metals  that are components for,

I would say, our  everyday life here in Europe.

You have to find the point  where you can intervene

and this point, from my point of view,  and in the Commission's proposal,

are the smelters, because before smelting  the minerals can be traced.

After exiting a smelter the metal is neutral  and cannot be traced back to its origins.

What do you think  the politicians who were opposing you,

who wanted far stricter due diligence  conditions on everybody using these metals,

what then do you think they could achieve?

Impact studies of the European  Commission show us that

if you come with an unprepared  and unilaterally imposed regulation,

900,000 companies in the European Union  - you might have a problem.

There might be a shortage on the market,  price distortion

and perhaps the very negative effect -  unwanted, but negative -

that smuggling increases,  that illegal and informal trade increases

and that people will simply avoid those  regions that are under EU regulations

that are too aggressive  towards the business community.

What I want is that once we have identified  all the stakeholders, and we've done this,

I would like to obtain the effect of  educating these stakeholders.

It's well known that the most recent  Sakharov Prize winner, Dr Mukwege,

who has a hospital  for female victims of conflict in DR Congo

demanding that European politicians put  human rights in Africa, or in conflict areas,

How much influence do you think  that had on MEPs?

It had a great deal of influence, also on me,  so let's not confuse things here.

What was the influence?  What did it tell you?

For me, it told me that  I have to work on a piece of legislation

that is realistic, that is implementable,

and that can be implemented  in a realistic timeframe,

because we are not working for something  that should be implemented in 7 or 8 years.

We have to do something today. That was  the effect of Dr Mukwege's activism on me.

And I know very well that  from good intentions to practical reality

Can you give me concrete examples of how  useful these minerals are in everyday life,

in the everyday equipment that we use,  but also in the industries of the future.

We have those metals in  everything we touch in our day-to-day life,

because communication, electronics,  household equipment, cars and planes

are everyday life for most Europeans,  for the huge majority of Europeans.

Speaking of aeroplanes, I would give you an  example which was given to me by industry.

If you have a mandatory  due diligence process

and you want to certify every company  in the upstream and downstream,

then, for building a transatlantic plane,

you have to collect  close to one million certificates.

Your task now is to try and persuade  your colleagues here in Parliament

of your position while you still have time.  How will you do that?

My task is to find common ground  with the co-legislators,

with the European Council,  with the Member States,

I am very worried about the fact  that we are now so far,

the vote today here in Parliament  took us so far from the intentions,

as far as I know them, of the European  Council and of the Member States,

that it will be a very difficult  negotiating process,

but we have to do our best  to push through this piece of legislation.