As I wrote in https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25337706/setuptools-vs-distutils-why-is-distutils-still-a-thing/40176290#40176290,
distutils has a responsibility that setuptools as a 3rd-party entity cannot fulfill -- to set the core standards for addon modules structure
and interface and be guaranteed to be present and compatible with the Python distribution that it comes with.

If you are going to remove distutils, something else will need to fulfill these goals.