The EITI standard seeks to ensure appropriate and transparent management of natural resources. The standard requires companies in the extractive industries to disclose what they have paid in taxes and governments to disclose what they have received.
Uwe Beckmeyer, parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, has been appointed special representative for D-EITI (as the standard is known in Germany).
“Germany has been a long-time supporter of the EITI going right back to the early days of 2003, and has contributed politically and financially to the development and outreach of the standard in developing countries and emerging markets worldwide,” said Beckmeyer.
Germany is not among the major mining nations for which the initiative was originally created – mining accounts for less than 1% of GDP – but Beckmeyer said the widespread acceptance and strengthening of the EITI standard is in Germany’s “strategic interest”. He references Germany’s role within the G7 and commitments in the area of transparent management of natural resources across borders in this regard.
Germany will align the national EITI implementation with EU regulations on accounting and transparency, and has signalled an intention to “go beyond transparency”.
“We want to apply the EITI’s successful multi-stakeholder governance model to create new partnerships across stakeholder groups in the natural resource sector,” said Beckmeyer.
Clare Short, chairwoman of the international EITI board, welcomed the German decision, adding that she hoped this development would lead to others taking up the initiative.
“I hope this German leadership will be followed in Eastern Europe, not least in countries that have significant energy transit and production,” said Short.
