Responding to a new set of EU measures related to the field of environmental protection
After decades of painstaking progress in environmental policies, the European Union is entering a phase in which, under the pressure of geopolitical tensions and the demands of big capital, it is increasingly openly renouncing its own progressive principles of environmental protection and public health. Namely, the announced package of measures of the European Commission, presented on December 10, which under the pretext of “simplification” weakens environmental regulations, clearly shows that the EU ranks with countries like China and the United States of America in the race to secure critical raw materials, regardless of the long-term consequences for nature and the climate. Such trends indicate that decisions of crucial importance are increasingly being made without democratic control and additionally emphasize the need for stronger cooperation and solidarity of progressive forces throughout Europe and the world, in order to oppose this turn in time.
The European Water Movement, an alliance of environmental, trade union and professional organizations from and outside the EU, of which Polekol is a member, also warns of the connection of these policies with the rearmament plans of the EU and the global race for technological dominance, including the artificial intelligence sector. The huge, still underexplored water and energy consumption required by these technologies further increases the risks, especially in regions already affected by water shortages, according to EWM. Despite this, the European Commission is considering abolishing or easing the environmental impact assessment procedures, the very mechanisms that should protect the public interest.
Polekol warns that this direction means accepting the logic of exploitation in which short-term competitiveness is placed before the preservation of the ecosystem. This further deepens the climate crisis that will affect everyone, regardless of borders, and breaks an important normative argument out of the hands of activists on both sides of the EU borders. If we do not oppose these processes together and urgently, the world risks irreversibly losing the crucial battle for the sustainable coexistence of people and nature on the planet. This is precisely why connecting social movements, the scientific community and progressive political actors becomes not only desirable, but necessary to preserve the chance for a sustainable future.
Harmful Measures to Accelerate AI and Mining Permits
The environmental “omnibus” of the European Commission envisages changes to regulations that facilitate requirements in the field of industrial emissions and management of chemicals, including changes to the Industrial Emissions Directive. The package announces the revision of the Water Framework Directive, which may lead to changes in the rules for the protection and management of freshwater ecosystems. An evaluation of the functioning of the Birds and Habitats Directives is also being introduced through the so-called “stress test”, with the aim of reviewing their scope and application.
The European Commission announces that these measures will speed up the issuance of permits, especially for projects in strategic sectors such as the IT industry, the exploitation of critical raw materials and large infrastructure projects. The alleged goal of the measures is to strengthen competitiveness and transition to a “clean and digital economy”. Behind the administrative language hides essential deregulation, which implies the reduction of environmental impact assessment procedures, the weakening of control over industrial emissions and the relativization of basic standards for the protection of nature and human health. This narrative is also taken up without hesitation in Serbia, where projects for the exploitation of critical raw materials are presented as a development opportunity, while the voices of local communities, science and civil society are systematically marginalized.
Of particular concern is the fact that these changes directly call into question the Water Framework Directive, one of the most important pillars of European water protection policy. The European Water Movement, of which Polecol is a part, warns that the European Commissioner for the Environment, Water and Circular Economy, Jessica Rosewall, has stated that the revision of the Directive is being considered in order to facilitate the opening of new mines on EU territory, in order to reduce dependence on China and the USA. This reasoning clearly shows that water, ecosystems and public health are being held hostage by geopolitical strategies and industrial interests, although even a maximalist approach to deregulation will not lead to independence.
It is emphasized that just a few years ago, the European Commission conducted an assessment of the Water Framework Directive and concluded that it is adequate for achieving the goals of water protection and the health of the population. Instead of the consistent application of existing regulations, we are witnessing their dismantling under the pressure of mining and industrial lobbies, which represents a serious threat to the right to a healthy environment and the human right to water, which the EU previously declaratively supported, especially after more than two million signatures of EU citizens within the Right2Water initiative.
The Strategic Plan for Critical Minerals was adopted just a week earlier
The announced “omnibus” for deregulation does not come in isolation. It directly builds on the RESourceEU Action Plan, adopted on December 3, which envisages an accelerated and intensive supply of critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and rare minerals to the EU. This plan openly foresees the removal of “regulatory bottlenecks”, financial support for strategic projects and the expansion of exploitation primarily in the European Union itself, but also in the Western Balkans, Ukraine, as well as countries of the Global South, under the auspices of geopolitics and industrial security.
All this is happening in the context of strong economic pressure on European institutions. As Politico recently wrote, companies are increasingly openly demanding a reduction in environmental standards, presenting them as an obstacle to competitiveness. Since the beginning of the second mandate of the President of the European Commission, a series of “simplification” packages has already led to a weakening of standards in the field of nature protection, agriculture and chemicals.
Polekol warns that this direction represents a serious threat not only to the environment, but also to democratic processes and citizens’ trust in institutions. When environmental regulations are removed in order to accelerate the exploitation of resources, it is clear that the transition is neither fair nor green – it is then primarily tailored to the interests of big industry. Such trends in the EU remind us of the negative processes of deregulation and weakening of institutions from our region, which have already caused many irreversible damages to the environment. Having this experience, we hope that the EU will not follow a similar path and therefore we feel an even stronger need to warn of the risks and join the appeal of numerous related organizations and communities across Europe.
After decades of struggles around the world, both on the ground and in the field of law, historic mobilizations of the environmental and climate movement, small steps and difficult victories, we must not allow the steep regression of public policies that is unfolding before our eyes and on our continent. The environment must not be collateral damage of geopolitical calculations and corporate hunger for profit. Instead of deregulation, what is needed is consistent application of existing laws, strengthening of public supervision and protection of natural resources for today’s and future generations, Serbia, the Balkans, Europe and our only planet.