Ref. Ares(2021)6281159 - 14/10/2021
Ref. Ares(2022)1789387 - 10/03/2022
Skilled Crafts in Europe
Sustainable corporate governance and CSR:
Examples of best practices in the Skilled Crafts sector
Brussels, July 2021
1
1) Joiner
may reporting obligations be shifted to crafts
enterprises that process the wood in
Starting point
accordance with the tier 1 requirement.
From the point of view of the joinery trade,
2) Construction
the market and the use of tropical woods
have been greatly reduced in recent years.
Starting point
While 20 years ago tropical woods were quite
common
input
woods
due
to
their
98 percent of the building materials used are
technological properties or for decorative
of local origin. This applies in particular to
reasons, their use in interior finishing and
cement, concrete, sand and gravel.
furniture construction has declined sharply.
Examples of supply chains:
Today's use of tropical woods
-
In wood construction, for example,
Standard areas in which tropical woods are
when carpenters use tropical woods.
still frequently used are terrace construction
-
For pavers and mosaic layers who
and window and facade construction. In
work with natural stones from third
addition, the use of tropical woods in
countries such as India, for example.
exclusive yacht fittings is still of some
importance.
Supply chain flow
In all these cases, however, the wood
The parquet layer orders from his building
importer must provide proof that he is
materials dealer, who in turn orders from his
sourcing the tropical wood from secure
wholesaler, and the wholesaler orders
cultivation. This can be done, for example,
internationally.
via the FSC seal, which demonstrates
responsible forestry.
Demand
Demand
The wholesaler, since he imports the goods
into the EU, must provide certificates of origin.
Verification obligations must be fulfilled
where correspondingly large quantities of
wood are imported in order to be able to
effectively
influence
the
type
and
circumstances of production. This can be the
wood importer, but under no circumstances
2
3) Morticians
4) Organ and Harmonium Maker
Starting point
Starting point
Sustainability and a responsible approach to
German organ builders purchase tin from
people and resources are inherent in the
Indonesia, for example, to produce metal
funeral trade as the trade responsible for the
pipes. They buy this tin indirectly through
"care of existence", and the assumption of
several stages from a tin importer. The
social responsibility is part of the ethical
quantities they use are far too small to
principle.
derive any liability claim from this. For
example, the organ building industry
Funeral
homes
provide
advice
and
supplies about 50 tons of tin annually to
suggestions on sustainable solutions and
musical instrument makers, which is about
products, both in the direction of the relatives
0.02 percent of the tin mined worldwide. Of
(accepting wishes, exploring options, making
this, over 90 percent is used for the
recommendations) and in the direction of
construction of metal pipes. The liability
industry-related trades (sustainable and/or
should therefore be limited to the tin
certified products, supply chains, etc.).
importer or wholesaler who still turns over
correspondingly large quantities of tin in
Demand
order to be able to effectively influence the
type and circumstances of production.
Sustainability can only be implemented
practically and effectively in cooperation with
Demand
all trades. Existing CSR approaches from the
skilled crafts sector must be recognized.
In addition, to operate as sustainably as
possible, old tin pipes are already being
fused with new tin and cast into new metal
pipes. Complex obligations to provide
evidence of which tin batch is to be assigned
to which metal pipes run counter to this
resource-saving
approach
and
must
therefore be avoided.
3
5) Butchers
forced to rely on suppliers from abroad due to
legal regulations, it becomes clear once again
Starting point
that liability must be limited to the directly
closest supplier ("tier-1").
At first glance, the butcher's trade is certainly
a
suitable
example
of
sustainable
management in the trade. Here, the chain
runs from regional animal husbandry through
regional slaughtering and regional processing
to regional sales.
Processing of sausages
Since the BSE crisis in the 1990s, however,
German butchers have been prohibited from
using intestines from cattle in Europe to
produce the sausage pellet. Since then, the
sausage pellet has not been produced locally
and regionally, but imported worldwide,
mainly from China and Turkey, but also from
Afghanistan and Iran. Basically, the motto is:
the poorer the soil on which the cattle grazes,
the better for the quality of the casings.
The legal basis for the ban on using natural
casings from animals from the EU is to be
found in Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001. For
reasons of health protection, this ban also
seems fundamentally appropriate from a
crafts perspective. However, it results in the
otherwise purely local and regional production
chains necessarily having to be broken.
Demand
When even sustainably operating and
regionally rooted SMEs find themselves
