Mineral development and land use planning in the EU – will the CRMA have any impact?

Context

The CRMA was published in 2024 amid a substantial amount of publicity and touted as the EU´s response to the increasing global competition for critical raw materials needed for the twin transitions – digital and energy. The focus since then has been on establishing its working level elements –the European Critical Raw Materials Board (ECRMB) and developing a pipeline of Strategic Projects (SPs). The former is now in place and its last meeting in December 2024 was to consider the Commission´s first list of projects for consideration as SPs based on some 176 applications it received following a call in August 2024.

77 applications relate to extraction, 58 concern processing while 30 focus on recycling or substitution of critical raw materials (CRMs). For a particular sub-set of these presumptive SPs, achieving the moniker of SP may be the easier task facing them. Getting permitting is likely to be the challenge even with the “permitting acceleration” provisions contained within the CRMA. Permitting and authorisation of extraction projects for instance depends on the procedures, process and bodies involved in granting permits within the Member State where they are to be located.

However, speeding up permitting will only be effective if the spatial planning and land use planning processes within Member States themselves have been reformed and updated to take account of the new mineral policy priorities of the EU.

Spatial planning and mineral resources development in the EU

Permitting mineral development projects within EU Member States usually takes place within a land use planning or spatial planning framework with associated mineral development and environmental licensing processes. Land use planning and mineral development permitting are some of the few remaining areas where member states have exclusive competence.

An EU funded research project - MinLand which concluded in 2020, looked in detail at issues relating to mineral development and land use planning in the EU with specific focus on a number of Member States including Finland, Spain and Hungary (see below). The multi-faceted project highlights a key challenge for the success of the CRMA, namely the fact that European countries exhibit significant variations in their legislation regarding mineral resources, including ownership (state, private, or free-to-mine), permitting procedures, and levels of integration with land use planning.

With regard to the consideration of minerals in land use policies and land use planning and development generally, the study notes: "The application of mineral resources in land use planning is highly dependent on both the policy and the legislative framework in each country."
"Safeguarding has been interpreted differently in the various cases: Safeguarding of known, well documented deposits of defined interest or exploitation activities and mining areas, versus safeguarding as an activity delimitating an area of interest but not ensuring its protection for mineral utilization."

Mineral Resources and Land Use Planning in Europe (Minland Project (H2020) - Main themes

• Harmonizing Land Use Planning and Mineral Resource Management: The study examines how different European countries integrate the need for mineral resources with land use planning, highlighting the challenges and best practices.
• Legislative Frameworks and Permitting: The document delves into the diverse legal systems across Europe regarding mineral ownership, permitting processes for exploration and exploitation, and the concept of a "one-stop shop" for administrative procedures.
• Safeguarding Mineral Deposits: A key theme is the concept of safeguarding valuable mineral deposits from sterilization by other land uses, with varying approaches and levels of protection across different countries.
• Valuing Mineral Resources: The study analyzes how countries weigh the economic importance of mineral resources against other land use interests such as nature conservation, urban development, and cultural heritage.
• Stakeholder Engagement: The document emphasizes the importance of public participation and stakeholder consultation in land use planning and permitting processes, ensuring transparency and addressing local concerns.

Only two countries studied, Sweden and Norway have a system in place for documenting and developing known mineral resources. Not surprisingly, the study found that the strongest competition in terms of land use planning terms, for mineral resources are nature conservation, environmental protection, urban development, infrastructure and cultural heritage.

MinLand identified a number of issues which the researchers saw as necessary for effective mineral development in EU Member States:

• Clearer policies and guidelines that define the value of mineral resources and their role in sustainable development.
• Improved data availability and accessibility for land use planners, including information on mineral resources, potential conflicts, and best
  practices.
• Robust stakeholder engagement processes that ensure transparency, address local concerns, and foster informed decision-making.

Since the MinLand project was finalised there has been further developments in some Member States (e.g. Finland) and of course the coming into force of the CRMA in 2024 will see further developments across EU Member States hopefully addressing the key issues identified in the MinLand project. The CRMA highlights the importance of integrating mineral development into land use planning, it stops short of mandating specific requirements, leaving the decision-making authority to the respective national, regional, and local entities responsible for these plans.

Article 13 of the CRMA which addresses land use planning, exhorts Member State national, regional and local authorities responsible for preparing plans, including zoning, spatial plans and land use plans to consider including in such plans, “where appropriate,” provisions for the development of critical raw material projects. The article further suggests that priority in land use plans should be focused or given to development on “brownfield sites” or “built” surfaces or abandoned mines.
Such suggestions as to where to locate CRM projects are useful but will generally not apply to development of new mineral resources which lie underground are related to geological considerations and not policy considerations. It will be difficult therefore to totally avoid conflicts or local concerns over mineral extraction without preparing society at large and local communities within areas likely to be developed for CRMs.

A further consideration is the fact that land use plans are developments within a cyclical framework usually every five years or so depending on Member States legal frameworks. It would be important therefore for the European Commission and Member States to develop communications programmes for local and regional authorities to aid awareness raising of the importance of mining for local, national and EU economies.
There is also a need to develop relevant guidance to ensure that land use plans, as they are developed or revised, address mineral development as a key land use. This means that areas with identified mineral resources (in particular critical raw materials) are highlighted, protected and made aware to the citizenry during the land use plan development process. This would allow local inhabitants to voice their opinions and concerns but importantly alert them to potential developments prior to any formal mineral project permitting application.

Mineral development and nature conservation

Over the past 30 years or so in the EU, spatial planning and local land use plans have increasingly acknowledged and considered biodiversity and nature conservation as specific land use that requires protection. Two EU Directives, the Birds and Habitats Directives , have been the principal drivers. These Directives have required the designation of special protection and special areas of conservation across the EU. In 2021, 26.4% of EU land was protected, with 18.5% of this area designated as Natura 2000 sites and 7.9% having other national designations, representing over 100,000 sites in total. By 2030, the EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to have 30% of EU land and sea protected.

Mineral development and nature conservation have historically clashed often with destruction of habitats and waterways in the immediate vicinity and beyond depending on the mineral being mined and the form of extraction. The shift from energy systems based on fossil fuels to systems based largely on minerals is already accelerating a new “mineral resources age” across the globe. Leaving aside issues related to geopolitics, this will inevitably mean pressure on natural resources – in particular biodiversity and water resources.

In the EU there is an urgent need for Member States to review their geological resources maps and to assess the degree of likely overlap or conflict that could arise with nature conservation areas already designated under EU laws.
There is also a need to bring together conservation, geological and land use authorities to ensure the CRMA “Strategic Project” process as set out Articles 10 to 12 of the CRMA are fully understood and that existing permitting processes and procedures are brought into line with the new requirements.

Prognosis
Eurometaux estimates that the EU needs to open at least 10 new mines, 15 new processing facilities and 15 recycling facilities for key raw materials by 2030. Over the past 20 years, there have been very few new mines or processing facilities opened or constructed. Moving forward with these project numbers on this time scale seems vastly optimistic without more attention being paid by EU Member States to their mineral development policies and to integrating mineral development more effectively into their land use policies.

The CRMA is in its early stages of implementation, and it is largely unknown to the majority of EU citizens. It would be even correct to say it is largely unknown to EU regional and local authorities outside the “Brussels bubble”. Given this reality, there is need for broader engagement with society right across the EU of the importance and urgency of developing and exploiting the EU´s mineral resources. This public communications dimension is currently missing from EU and national approaches to CRM policies.

Unfortunately, the only debates we see around mineral resources are those at local level around controversial projects such as Covas do Barroso in Portugal and the Jadar mine near the town of Loznica in western Serbia. While the issues surrounding each of them are unique and may not be fully representative, neither example is particularly helpful with the publicity around them broadcast widely across Europe and beyond.

Spatial planning is the often forgotten dimension of socio-economic development of a territory or state. Developments do not happen in mid-air. They are located in a place and occupy space. Land-use planning processes are generally designed to examine a territory´s capacity for different kinds of land uses. Modern techniques and systems can do this at a very sophisticated level. Mineral policy, exploration and development need therefore to be fully integrated into land use considerations. If they are not, then expect more land use conflicts to arise. In a crowded EU space, this will unfortunately be the case, despite the CRMA.

References

MinLand (2019) a multi country study on mineral resources and land use planning. EU Horizon 2020 funded project. Further information: https://www.minland.eu/database/

Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds. Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

Raw Materials 2030: A Lasting Recipe for European Resilience. Eurometaux. 2024.