CAFOD response to new EU country-by-country proposals
You spoke out. The Chancellor and PM listened. Now, EU proposals on country-by-country reporting offer the world’s poorest people a chance to demand a fair share for their country’s natural resources.
On Tuesday 25 October, the European Commission announced its progressive plans for laws that will require oil, gas, mining and logging companies to be more open about the payments they make to governments around the world. This is a significant step forward.
The proposals will call on all EU-listed and large unlisted oil, gas, mining and logging companies to reveal the payments they make to all governments on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis.
Strong law needed
CAFOD partner Bishop Fridolin Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo commented: “The EU must follow up these positive proposals with a strong law which will set new standards in transparency for oil, mining and logging companies. For too long the illicit exploitation of natural resources has fuelled conflict in our country.”
In response to the proposals, CAFOD’s Private Sector Analyst, Anne Lindsay said: “After years of campaigning, we welcome the Commission’s proposals to give citizens of resource-rich countries more data about what companies are paying for their oil, gas, minerals and forests.”
“However we are concerned that lobbying by industry interests risks creating loopholes in the Directives which could compromise the value of information reported. Some of the proposed definitions could too easily be turned into ‘get out clauses’.”
“The EU must adopt a robust standard of reporting - with a breakdown by country and project – to reduce the risk of corrupt deals and ensure the poorest can ask questions about how the money is spent.”
Read our analysis of the proposals>>
Find out more about the proposals from Anne Lindsay's blog>>
What’s next?
This is a real achievement. Thank you to the thousands of CAFOD campaigners who lobbied the government to open up the books. We’ll be following the progress of these proposals in Brussels and keeping up the pressure on our government to ensure the standard of reporting adopted is as robust as possible – lowering the risk of corruption and giving the poorest people a greater chance to question how the revenue their government earns is spent.
In the meantime, you can continue making a difference. Become a regular CAFOD MP correspondent and help us to tackle poverty and injustice around the world.
