What Europe needs

Euromines recommendations for an action package for ensuring the secure supply of sustainable resources for Europe

Domestic issues - Increase supply from European resources

Proposed key actions:

1. Simplifying and streamlining the sustainable access to domestic raw materials, in particular by reducing permitting times and increase the legislative reliability of investments in the extractive sector.

2. Facilitate exploration activities in Europe by re-establishing or increasing national expenditure for exploration with new technologies including the use of GMES services and reinforcing the mineral intelligence at national and EU levels.

3. Enhance RTD and innovation in the area of extraction, processing and recycling of raw materials by supporting the ETP SMR and national research programmes that will provide access to new resources, provide improvements on resources and energy efficiency as well as improve their sustainability.

4. Strengthen the compatibility of extraction and environment, health and safety protection by supporting research and best practices in environmental management, including biodiversity.

5. Ensure a sustainable supply from 3rd countries through the creation of a level playing field by ensuring that competing imported resources are subject to the same environmental, health and safety standards as well as transparency, good governance and anti-corruption rules.

6. Investing at national level into universities and educational programmes for the sector to increase the longer term perspective of new resources and new applications which would improve the sustainability of the use of resources for the future.