Sefcovic: We will use the best lithium mining practices in Serbia

The executive vice-president of the European Commission for the European Green Deal, Maros Sefcovic, stated on Friday in Belgrade that the lithium mining system had been carefully considered and that the best practices would be used in Serbia as well.

The mining of lithium, he added, starts in Serbia because it is “the most advanced in preparations” even though projects are also being prepared in Finland, the Czech Republic and Portugal.

On Friday, Sefcovic signed with Serbia, on behalf of the EU, the Memorandum of Understanding on the Strategic Partnership for Sustainable Raw Materials, Battery Production Chains and Electric Vehicles.

– Today’s technologies offer multi-layer possibilities for mining in an environmentally sustainable way. We’re talking closed shafts, electric machines, the use of renewable of energy sources and we will do everything in our power for the drinking water springs not to be affected – he told the press after the signing and estimated that that day was a “historic day” for Serbia and the EU.

Regarding the concern of the citizens of Serbia about the mining, he responded that the EU had “the most comprehensive regulatory framework in the world” for critical materials.

– Each battery to be put on the EU market will have a digital passport, most probably a QR code, where the public will be able to access the information about the carbon footprint of that battery, whether the highest environmental standards are met, what the recycling guarantee is like, whether the people in the value chain were treated with dignity – he told the press.

He said that the strategy on critical raw materials, adopted the previous year, also proscribed penalties, but that there had been no problems up till that point.

The protection of the planet, he said, goes hand in hand with competitiveness and social justice. He congratulated Vucic for the initiative to have Serbia lead the way “when it comes to critical raw materials, batteries and electric vehicles.”

The mining of lithium will open the door to the biggest foreign investments in the history of Serbia, he estimated.

Sefcovic added that the GDP of Serbia would increase by EUR 62 billion a year.

– This project will bring a continued success. The agreement will lead to a deeper integration of the economies of Serbia and the EU and we are already doing a good job within the four pillars of the Western Balkans Growth Plan – he said.

He pointed out that Serbia would be the first country in Europe to have the whole value chain – mining, processing and manufacture of final products from lithium.

European Commission

Maros Sefcovic

European Green Deal

lithium

lithium mining