Sustainable management in extractive industries

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

The EU is highly dependent on raw materials that are crucial for a strong European industrial base, an essential building block of the EU's growth and competitiveness. In order to secure the sustainable access to primary raw materials, including metals, industrial minerals, construction raw materials, and particularly Critical Raw Materials for the EU economy, there is a need to tackle a number of specific non-technology challenges related to the raw materials policy framework including access to mineral deposits, land use planning and permitting procedures.

The actions should strengthen raw materials policy framework and foster mineral production in the EU. They should ensure cross-sectoral policy coordination and integration aspects covering economic, environmental and social aspects in the value chain of the extractive life cycle from finding and access to deposits to closure and rehabilitation, while focusing on access to deposits and permitting process. Actions should take into account various external stakeholder interests and the general public, address circular economy and sustainable development aspects.

The actions should develop a toolkit applicable across the EU Member States for assessing socio-economic and environmental impacts, land-use planning, health and safety issues, and reporting official statistics to support transparent permitting process of mining projects. Based on the toolkit, actions should develop training materials and organise capacity-building workshops for competent authorities, industry and civil society in different Member States in different regions the EU and at the EU level.

The actions should avoid duplication and build up on the results of the previous actions on the raw materials policy and legislative framework, mineral deposits of public importance, land use planning. engaging relevant authorities of different EU regions.

All actions should contribute to improving EU official statistics and building the EU knowledge base of primary and secondary raw materials (EC Raw Materials Information System – RMIS).

In support of the EIP on Raw Materials actions should envisage clustering activities with other relevant selected projects for cross-projects co-operation, consultations and joint activities on cross-cutting issues and share of results as well as participating in joint meetings and communication events. To this end proposals should foresee a dedicated work package and/or task, and earmark the appropriate resources accordingly.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

The project results are expected to contribute to:

• achieving the objectives and the implementation of both the Raw Materials Initiative and the EIP on Raw Materials, in particular in terms of the improving framework conditions for primary raw materials production in the EU;
• better informed and more efficient decision-making by the EU and Member States policy makers and the producers and users of raw materials regarding the supply of raw materials;
• improving the awareness of relevant external stakeholders and the general public across the EU about the importance of raw materials for society, the challenges related to their supply within the EU and about proposed solutions, duly taking into account the applicable EU environmental legislation;
• facilitating more integrative and coordinated raw materials policy frameworks in the EU and at the Member States level.

Socio-economic science and humanities