PowerShift criticises the European Commission: Strategic raw material projects threaten local groups
Berlin, 04.06.: The environmental and human rights organisation PowerShift expresses strong criticism of the selection of 13 other strategic raw materials projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act published today by the EU Commission, in particular with regard to the far-reaching impact these projects will have. The projects benefit from accelerated permitting and political prioritisation, but are often criticised on the ground due to environmental hazards for the local population.
Michael Reckordt, Raw Materials Officer at PowerShift:
"It is absolutely incomprehensible that the EU has included highly controversial projects such as the Jadar mineral deposit in Serbia. On the ground, people are protesting against President Vučić and the mining giant Rio Tinto, and people are falling behind in distant Brussels. There is also local resistance to nickel mining in New Caledonia. The project announced there today could further worsen the already tense situation of the Kanak, the Melanesian natives of New Caledonia, and exacerbate land-grabbing conflicts. It is also particularly critical that not a single project to promote recycling can be found among the selected projects – this does not take into account the objective of a global circular economy.”
PowerShift is a member of the Federal German Working Group on Raw Materials, which formulated requirements for a democratic, ecological and social selection of projects in July 2024. These can be found here: https://power-shift.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PowerShift_Hintergrundpapier_Strategische_Projekte.pdf.
The EU list of strategic projects can be found here: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials/strategic-projects-under-crma/selected-projects_en
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact:
- Michael Reckordt, Resource Policy Officer, michael.reckordt@power-shift.de, +49 (0)163 6336372
