Parliamentary question - O-0038/2005Parliamentary question
O-0038/2005

Ending child labour

16.3.2005

ORAL QUESTION WITH DEBATE O-0038/05
pursuant to Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure
by Luca Romagnoli, Armando Dionisi, Luigi Cocilovo, Vittorio Prodi, Giulietto Chiesa, Patrizia Toia, Cristiana Muscardini, David Casa, Sepp Kusstatscher, Richard Falbr, María Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Marianne Mikko, Romano La Russa, Alessandro Battilocchio, Zbigniew Zaleski, Roberta Angelilli, Francesco Musotto, Amalia Sartori, Sebastiano Musumeci, Alfonso Andria, Stefano Zappalà, Marek Czarnecki, Alessandro Foglietta, Giuseppe Castiglione, Ryszard Czarnecki, Gianni De Michelis, Carlo Fatuzzo, Fausto Correia, Karin Resetarits, Proinsias De Rossa, Adriana Poli Bortone, Emanuel Fernandes, Giuseppe Gargani, Giovanni Fava, Sergio Berlato, Alfredo Antoniozzi, Philip Claeys, Koenraad Dillen, Bruno Gollnisch, Carl Lang, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Fernand Le Rachinel, Jean-Claude Martinez, Andreas Mölzer, Lydia Schenardi and Frank Vanhecke
to the Commission

Having regard to Council Directive 94/33/EC[1] of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work;

 

Having regard to ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the ‘worst’ forms of child labour, and whereas that convention requires the ratifiying States to take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of child labour as a matter of urgency;

 

Whereas the Community has a duty to foster compliance with fundamental labour standards, in the light of its commitment to maintaining the rule of law;

 

Whereas products manufactured by firms which employ child labour and which offer their workers no welfare provision whatsoever are imported into Italy and other EU Member States, above all in the following sectors: textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods in general (the firms involved include Nike, Benetton and Reebok, to name only some of the best known);

 

Could the Commission state what steps it intends to take to combat child labour and the exploitation of children and if, in that connection, it intends to:

 

  1. impose restrictions on imports from countries which do not enforce the above-mentioned ILO convention?

 

  1. set up a European body to monitor compliance with the provisions of that convention?

 

  1. impose tight restrictions on the circulation of products manufactured by firms which have been shown to exploit child labour and/or impose penalties on such firms?

 

  1. propose a directive stipulating that only ‘ethically certified’ products may be imported into and marketed in Europe?

 

 

Tabled: 16.03.2005

Forwarded: 18.03.2005

Deadline for reply: 25.03.2005