Case: Policy coherence in general

22-09-2010 MEP Liam Aylward asks Commission about child labour in small and medium size enterprises

Many European enterprises buy or have their goods manufactured in developing countries. Unfortunately, there are still factories there which use children as cheap labour. The European enterprises do either business with local factories themselves or there is a middleman involved. Sometimes these companies do not know under which working conditions their products are being made. However, sometimes they do know. MEP Liam Aylward (ALDE) asked the Commission what they are doing to ensure small and medium size enterprises do not get involved with forced child labour. Protecting childrens rights is a key goal of the EUs  external policy. If the Commission is lacking to act against companies using child labour, this would be an incoherence of European policy.  

For his concerns expressed about child labour in trade we recognize MEP Aylward (ALDE) as Fair Politician. Therefore he earns a point in our monitoring system.

Monitor fair: ALDE

Parliamentary Question
14 July 2010
H-0374/2010
QUESTION TIME, by Liam Aylward (ALDE)

Subject: European SMEs, international trade and child labour

What can the Commission do to ensure that European SMEs are not involved in child labour practices, either directly or indirectly, when purchasing products from developing nations? Does the Commission have any mechanism in place in order to monitor European trade and products that are linked to child labour in developing nations? What provisions are in place in order to tackle this issue?