WRITTEN QUESTION E-1492/96 by José Barros Moura (PSE) to the Commission (12 June 1996)

Subject: Child labour

What are the precise reasons why DG V decided - according to a communication from the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry - to propose, in conjunction with the trade unions, the holding of a debate on 30 April involving the unions, the ECFI, Italy and Portugal, at which the problem of child labour was to be on the agenda?

Why were only these two countries chosen?

Does this choice amount to a mark of distinction for the industry in these two countries, where it is particularly prominent (in Portugal, the industry consists of many hundreds of companies, employing around 50 000 people and producing 110 million pairs of shoes every year, while Portugal is the second largest exporter in Europe and the ninth largest in the world, with some of the most technologically advanced plants in the world, clearly demonstrating that it is possible to be competitive without resorting to child labour)?

Or does it amount to an insinuation based on isolated cases of the use of child labour?

What steps does the Commission plan to take to protect the image of the Community industry - while separating the wheat from the chaff - in the face of non-Community competitors which, although they do not observe any minimum social standards or even basic rights in their own countries, benefit from public opinion campaigns which appear to be well-meaning and to express concern for human rights but are in fact insidious because they are based on extrapolations from rare, isolated cases of child labour?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (2 August 1996)

The Commission pays particular attention to child labour and considers that, in line with what was agreed at the World Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995), the fundamental social rights of workers should be protected and that, to this end, the relevant conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on basic rights, including those banning child labour, should be promoted.

In adopting its scheme of generalized preferences ((Council Regulation (EC) No 3281/94 of 19 December 1994 applying a four-year scheme of generalized tariff preferences (1995 to 1998) in respect of certain industrial products originating in developing countries (OJ L 348, 31.12.1994) and Council Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 of 20 June 1996 applying multiannual schemes of generalized tariff preferences from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1999 in respect of certain agricultural products originating in developing countries (OJ L 160, 29.6.1996). )), which provide for special incentives for countries which abide by the international conventions on the abolition of child labour, the Community has shown the importance it attaches to this matter in the context of its relations with developing countries.

With regard to the Community's social policy, it should be recalled that in 1994 the Council adopted a Directive on the protection of young people at work ((Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994; OJ L 216, 20.8.1994. )).

In the context of the social dialogue in the footwear industry, the social partners adopted a charter on the employment of children on 7 March 1995, which refers to this Directive. The social partners, meeting as part of the social dialogue, proposed that round tables be organised at national level to raise awareness of the principles contained in the charter. An application for a subsidy has been submitted to the Commission for the purpose of organising these round tables. Since this is a follow-up to an agreement at European level negotiated in the context of the social dialogue on a subject the Commission considers important, the Commission has agreed to provide financial support for these round tables.

Following recent discussions as part of the social dialogue, the information meetings initially planned in Italy and Portugal could be held in Brussels in autumn with representatives of the social partners from the different Member States.