Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on the importation of non-energy minerals to ensure a sustainable supply to key sectors such as the construction, chemicals, information technology, telecommunications, automotive and aerospace industries. Such raw materials are essential for the functioning of modern societies, and vital to the economy of the European Union.
Although Europe is rich in many of the minerals required, there are potential barriers preventing extraction. These include some aspects of land use planning, environmental legislation, the extraction permitting process and knowledge of the geological resource. Action is required now to overcome these barriers and reverse the ever-increasing reliance of the European economy on imports.
LUC was commissioned by the European Commission to provide technical support to an ad hoc working group on land use planning, permitting and geological knowledge sharing. The working group comprised representation from Member State governments, national geological institutes and the minerals industry. The working group was charged with the task of contributing to the identification of actions to promote the exchange of best practices in the area of land use planning and administrative conditions for exploration and extraction, and encourage better networking between national geological surveys with the aim of increasing the European knowledge base.
One of the difficulties faced by the working group was the disparity between minerals planning and permitting systems in the Member States, making it problematic to compare the processes involved and therefore identify best practice examples. We helped overcome these problems by working collaboratively with the working group on sections of the report, drawing on their knowledge and expertise to ensure that meaningful comparisons could be made and therefore a useful report produced. It was a long and sometimes arduous process, but the output made it worthwhile.
Our team’s project management skills had to be exceptional, as the work involved high levels of liaison and diplomacy working with all Member States.
Read the report here:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/raw-materials/sustainable-supply/index_en.htm
