Answer given by Mr Schmit on behalf of the European Commission
19.8.2022
1. The Commission agrees that child labour in the cobalt supply chain is highly hazardous. The Commission, in line with its zero-tolerance policy on child labour, is committed to support partner countries to fully eradicate child labour by 2025, including to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 8.7.[1]
The approach is enforced through comprehensive actions, such as enhanced implementation of Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters in Free Trade Agreements[2] and the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, including the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus arrangement in which partners commit to ratifying and effectively implementing fundamental labour conventions, including child labour conventions; the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence[3] Directive; a commitment in the strategy on the Rights of the Child to make EU supply chains child labour free; targeted projects implemented in partner countries; a new project to fight child labour in the mining sector; and the upcoming legislative proposal to effectively prohibit the placing on the EU market of products of forced labour, including forced child labour, which will be adopted in September 2022.
2. The European climate law includes a commitment to a socially fair green transition, which the EU ensures through promoting decent work worldwide. Central to the decent work agenda is the elimination of child labour and the empowerment of workers.
3. Commitment to the SDGs and the EU’s 2030 climate target are complementary and synergetic, including on the objective of eradicating child labour.