Mikael Staffas – President, Euromines
As the new President of Euromines, Mikael Staffas shares his vision for the organisation and the future of European mining in this interview. He discusses why Euromines matters now, the opportunities and challenges facing the industry, his priorities for the presidency and his outlook for the mandate ahead.
Why Euromines, why now?
The green and digital transformation will not happen without a steady and reliant supply of raw materials and securing access to metals and minerals has never been more urgent and important for the Union.
This is a soft spot for Europe, with large dependencies on imports for the lion part of Europe’s needs.
Euromines is the voice of the European mining industry, and I am honored and committed to the task of leading the way toward a stronger and more visible domestic mining sector that can contribute to European raw material sovereignty.
His vision for the European mining industry
Europe needs a prosperous and well-accepted European mining industry, that can meet the raw materials demand of Europe and thus contribute to the Union’s strategic autonomy.
The vision for the European mining industry is to unlock Europe’s potential to deliver responsibly extracted metals and minerals needed by our industries in general and for the green and digital transition in particular.
His priorities for the presidency
In my role as President of Euromines, I am looking forward to having constructive dialogues with the political leadership and EU decision-makers, with the aim to resolve the regulatory and administrative bottlenecks that prevent the European mining industry from developing and contributing to the Union’s raw materials supply.
We need legislation and actions that correspond to the overarching political objectives and ambitions and make them feasible.
- Faster and more predictable permitting
- Policy coherence
- Shared commitment and trust building
His outlook for the presidency and the industry
For too long, Europe has made itself dependent on raw materials production taking place elsewhere, without adequate oversight and security of supply. Â
Europe should scale up its domestic mining capacity to secure access to metals and minerals in a manner that is sustainable, responsible and transparent in the long term. Â
We will continue to build trust between the industry and its stakeholders.Â