Responding to a parliamentary question by European Parliament members Thijs Berman and Emine Bozkurt regarding what kind of steps the EU has taken to encourage Turkey to eradicate child labor, Füle said there has been no significant progress in Turkey. He noted the EU will continue discussions on the issue with the Turkish government and European firms will be discouraged from buying products from Turkish companies which fail to follow International Labour Organization (ILO) standards concerning the employment of minors.
He also mentioned the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Project (METİP), which was initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in 2010 to improve the working and living conditions of seasonal agricultural workers. Füle added that 2011 was declared a “year of action,” with the aim of eliminating child labor in the agricultural sector, particularly during the hazelnut harvest. 2012 will see a continuation of efforts to this end.
Turkey produces around 75 percent of all hazelnuts in the world, a great portion of which is exported to the EU. Turkish children as young as 8 regularly work around 11 hours a day picking hazelnuts.
The European Commission publishes on an annual basis an overview of the enlargement policy and the progress made by candidate countries in their efforts to join the European Union.
