Press release on the EU Parliament's vote on the Critical Raw Materials Act
Security of supply at the expense of human rights and the environment
The EU Parliament is expected to adopt its position in favour of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) by a large majority tomorrow. The CRMA aims to secure the supply of critical raw materials for European industry. "However, the parliamentary proposal has major weaknesses when it comes to protecting human rights and the environment. The law urgently needs to be tightened in the upcoming trilogue negotiations at EU level," comments Johannes Peter, Advisor on Business and Human Rights at WEED.
The mining sector is a high-risk sector in which human rights and indigenous rights are repeatedly violated and environmental destruction is accepted. The CRMA therefore offers an important opportunity to create regulations to make raw material supply chains more sustainable. "It is therefore all the more worrying that the EU appears to be focussing unilaterally on the security of supply of critical raw materials without taking adequate account of the major human rights and environmental risks," explains Johannes Peter. "The draft legislation outsources the verification of sustainability criteria to industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives. With this approach, the EU is disregarding numerous studies and examples that show that certifications within the framework of industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives are not sufficient to reliably uncover and effectively prevent human rights violations."
"There is also a risk that this approach will undermine existing due diligence regulations that are currently being negotiated, such as the EU Supply Chain Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Batteries Regulation," continued Peter.
Indigenous peoples are particularly affected by the negative impacts of mining. Studies show that a large proportion of deposits of critical raw materials are located on or near the territories of indigenous peoples. "This is why it is so important that the CRMA explicitly enshrines indigenous rights and the right to refuse consent to mining (right to say no)," demands Peter.
In March of this year, the EU Commission presented its draft for the CRMA. Positioning in the Council of Ministers and the EU Parliament has progressed at a rapid pace over the last six months. Today's vote in the EU Parliament will be followed by the trialogue process, in which the three EU institutions will negotiate the final form of the regulation.
Contact:
Johannes Peter, Advisor on Business and Human Rights at WEED; Mail: johannes.peter@weed-online.org; Tel: 030 275 822 49; Web: www.weed-online.org
More Information:
Position Paper of more than 40 European human rights and environmental organizations