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Natural resources

Serbia to Harmonize Mining Laws with EU's Green Deal

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Serbia is set to align its mining laws with the European Union's (EU) goals for sustainable mining, climate neutrality, and secure minerals supply. This will involve harmonizing Serbia's regulatory framework with the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Green Deal. The move comes after the EU included a lithium mining project in Serbia among its strategic projects for critical raw materials.

Key Takeaways:

  • The draft law will establish a modern, transparent, and efficient system for managing mineral and other geological resources in line with sustainable development standards.
  • Serbia aims to introduce standardized reporting systems in line with the Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) standards, the UN Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC), and the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS).
  • The law will digitalize permitting procedures for exploration and mining through a unified information system that enables electronic application and permitting.
  • Investors' obligations regarding environmental protection, land reclamation, and site remediation will be more precisely regulated during exploration and mining.
  • The law will also set clear criteria for identifying and protecting strategic mineral deposits, and ensure they are included in spatial and development plans.
  • Serbia intends to strengthen the role of the state as the owner and steward of the country's natural resources, and ensure the application of sustainable mining principles and compliance with environmental standards.
  • The public consultation on the draft law will be open until November 11, allowing citizens and organizations to submit proposals, comments, and suggestions.

Statistics:

  • The EU has included a lithium mining project in Serbia among its strategic projects for critical raw materials.
  • Rio Tintos Jadar project is the only one on the list that involves the extraction of lithium and boron.
  • The draft law aims to establish a modern system for managing mineral resources, which will be achieved through digitalization and electronic processing.

Sources:

  • Kingdom of Serbia
  • Global Data Point
  • Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC)
  • UN Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC)
  • Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS)

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