The Dutch Approach to the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation
Is This The Collaborative Approach That We've Been Waiting For?
The trialogue negotiations taking place between the EU Commission, EU Council, and EU Parliament have proved to be challenging. However, there has been one promising development concerning the “Dutch Approach.” The European Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) for Responsible Sourcing of Materials (Derived by the Dutch, who holds the EU Council Presidency position until June, 2016) is a recent development that has been gaining some traction.
According to Susanne Baker of TechUK, The “Dutch Approach,” is a multi-stakeholder partnership approach that would facilitate a platform for cooperation between EU governments, third party compliance firms and civil societies. Susanne continued to outline that the PPP would be an institution built for knowledge, leadership, downstream customer networking, traceability and compliance reporting, and a platform to accurately identify conflict-affected and high risk regions.
If accepted, the “Dutch Approach,” would be the most cohesive attempt to address Conflict Minerals to date. It is extremely important for upstream suppliers and downstream firms to stay in front of this regulation, and its evolution. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation is expected to affect 880,000 firms based in the EU. If you believe your company may be affected or would like to learn more about the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, click here to view a complementary webinar on EU Conflict Minerals.
