PURPOSE: to authorise Member States to ratify, in the interest of the European Union, the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.
CONTENT: the proposed Decision seeks to authorise the Member States to ratify the Protocol, with regard to matters relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Forced Labour Convention, 1930, of the International Labour Organisation, which the Protocol of 2014 supplements, is a fundamental ILO Convention and has a bearing on rules which make reference to core labour standards. The Union promotes the ratification of international labour conventions, classified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as up to date, to contribute to the Union’s efforts to promote human rights and decent work for all and to eradicate trafficking in human beings both inside and outside the Union.
Member States should take the necessary steps to deposit their instruments of ratification of the Protocol with the Director-General of the International Labour Office as soon as possible, preferably by 31 December 2016.
For details of the main provisions of this Protocol, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative proposal dated 11.09.2014.