Leaving the beaten track? The EU regulation on conflict minerals

Since the end of the 1990s, and as of early 2017, natural resources were the focus point of policymakers, academics, journalists, NGO activists and other observers trying to find a solution to the enduring armed conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes region. The illegal exploitation of mineral resources such as gold, diamonds, tin, tantalum and tungsten was widely considered as one of the principle causes of the ongoing violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). State and non-state armed groups were accused of using the revenues from the trade in 'conflict minerals' to enrich themselves and to finance their war efforts. In order to break the link between mining and conflict, promote transparency in the Congolese artisanal mining sector, and encourage increased due diligence efforts on the part of international companies buying Congolese minerals, a wide range of initiatives were undertaken, both at the international and the Congolese national level.