On Thursday 16 March, the European Parliament adopted, with 558 votes in favour, 17 against and 45 abstentions, the draft regulation aiming to stem the trade in 'conflict minerals' - tin, gold, tantalum and tungsten, the '3TG' - from conflict zones (the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region in particular), by cutting off funding for military and armed groups active there and supporting themselves by mining and trading in these metals.
Under the final...