Sustainable Mining in the European Union: The Legislative Aspect

Abstract

This paper is a review of the community legislation of the European Union ("acquis communautaire") with regard to the mineral extractive industry. It highlights the existing inconsistencies of the acquis, which require correction. Historically, the mining industry has received privileged treatment within the European Community. The treaties declare the promotion of a policy of using natural resources prudently and rationally to avoid their unconsidered exhaustion. However, mining is excluded from the scope of major environmental directives or reserves a certain freedom for interpretation. This has led to an increasing number of related cases at the European Court of Justice. The regulatory tools of the environmental acquis are rather diverse in controlling the emission sources, the pollution pathways, and the impacted receptor media through administrative measures or assigning environmental quality targets. A combined approach is needed for controlling the environmental impacts of the extractive industries. The amendment of the Seveso II Directive, the elaboration of a reference document on best available techniques and the preparation of a widescope directive on mining waste management might provide a frame for the elimination of the above discrepancies. In addition, a coherent European Community policy based on the balanced consideration of economic, environmental, and social aspects could ensure a sustainable development of the mining industry.

The Legal Governance of Oil and Gas in Europe: An Indicator Analysis of the Implementation of the Hydrocarbons Directive

“…For the study of the legislation, the authentic EUR-Lex database was queried, and analyzed using text mining techniques, and relevant works (e.g., EC [28]; Hámor [2]; Hámor et al [3]) were reviewed. EU Community law is often cited as "supranational" law.…”

“…Oil and gas are fossil fuels, non-renewable resources that account for 60-65% of the total final energy consumption and 20-25% of the domestic energy production in the EU (IAE, [1]). MS have sovereignty over fossil fuels and minerals on their territories because most segments of this sector, especially the proprietary decisions on the extraction, are out of the scope of the EU primary legislation, i.e., the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) (Hámor [2], Hámor et al [3] Hámor-Vidó et al [4]). In 1994, a progressive piece of EU secondary legislation was published on the rules of hydrocarbons exploration and production (Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorizations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons) (hereinafter: "Hydrocarbons Directive" or "Directive") in order to ensure open and fair competition.…”

Utilization of marble piece wastes as base materials

“…Many quarry waste materials are being studied as sustainable materials [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Ilıcalı [37] researched the usability of Erdemir slag as an aggregate.…”

Environmental Management of Mine Water, Considering European Water Legislation. Case Study of Megalopolis Mines

“…The European Community legislation includes treaties, as primary legislation, regulations, directives and decisions, as secondary legislation. The objectives of the Directives are to be achieved within a certain time-limit while leaving the national authorities the choice of form and means to be used (Hamor, 2004).…”