WRITTEN QUESTION E-0642/97 by Luciano Vecchi (PSE) to the Commission (6 March 1997)

Subject: Exploitation of child labour

Many institutions, organizations and associations have long been condemning the increasingly widespread practice of exploiting the labour of children and adolescents, often in difficult and dangerous jobs, in numerous countries all over the world.

Children are frequently exploited, directly or indirectly, for European firms operating in third countries.

Will the Commission say:

1. What measures it has adopted or intends to adopt to ban these forms of exploitation of child labour in countries which have cooperation agreements with the European Union?

2. Whether it intends to promote positive steps to put an end to these practices?

3. Whether it intends to promote the adoption, at international level, of 'social clauses' banning the exploitation of children in third countries?

4. Whether it intends to promote the adoption of codes of conduct for European firms operating in third countries in order to prevent the exploitation of child labour?

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (14 April 1997)

Respect for and promotion of human rights and democratic principles form part of the general objectives of the Community's external policy at both bilateral and multilateral level.

The Community's bilateral agreements with non-member countries cover economic and social cooperation which focuses on the problem of child labour and provides financial assistance for education programmes to help put an end to these practices. These programmes, which are organized and financed in conjunction with other institutions (the World Bank and the International Labour Office), include the building of schools, vocational training and education. In the light of the commitments which it entered into at the World Summit the Community is also considering the inclusion in bilateral agreements of a reference to the need to observe core labour standards and to put an end to all forms of exploitation of child labour.

Under the new Community scheme of generalized tariff preferences ((Council Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 (industrial products) and Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 (agricultural products), OJ L 348, 13.12.1994 and OJ L 160, 29.6.1996. )) there are special incentive arrangements in the form of additional preferences which may be granted to developing countries which apply for them providing they actually apply the ILO Conventions on child labour and the right of association and collective bargaining. The new scheme also provides for the temporary withdrawal, in whole or in part, of the scheme from countries which practise the most blatant forms of exploitation of child labour, i.e. slavery or forced labour.

At international level the Community and its members are actively supporting the ILO's work, in particular that on child labour. It is the ILO's objective to obtain a convention and recommendation totally and unconditionally banning extreme forms of child labour by 1999.

In a recent communication to the Council the Commission has also advocated multilateral discussions on the relationship between labour and trade. The World Trade Organization has been unable to form a working party to discuss this matter because of developing countries' sensitivity to this issue. However, at the WTO Conference in Singapore, Ministers affirmed their commitment to observance of internationally recognized core labour standards and sent a positive signal on the linkage between labour standards and human rights, the recognition of the ILO as the competent body for labour standards and the need for cooperation between the WTO and ILO.

The principle of the adoption of codes of conducts by international firms in general has already been discussed by the OECD in the course of its work on investment and by the ILO in its work on compliance with labour standard conventions. The Community fully subscribes to these principles.