STRADE supported the European Commission (EC) with analyses, stakeholder dialogues and derived conclusions to assist in shaping political action so as to guarantee Europe access to raw-material supply from diversified global and European sources. At the same time, this raw-material supply increasingly needs to be extracted under responsible mining best-practice standards and to broadly contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of the host country. As one of the largest international users of minerals the EU should take a leading position in responsible mining & sourcing of raw materials. It has the geo-political influence to attract industrial, emerging and developing countries to the table and helping in the support for more economic contribution from mining. The findings and discussions in STRADE also clearly indicate agreement on a continuing need for engagement for a healthy EU mining sector. Moreover STRADE looked into raw materials required for the electrification of road transport helping with the transition to a low carbon economy.
STRADE concentrated its research on primary raw-material with a strong regional focus on Africa, Latin America and China. Within Europe, STRADE addresses European Union (EU) level policies and not those of individual Member States.
Core recommendations dealt with the following issues:
• Social license to operate and responsible mining practices as one key issue for ensuring access to raw materials in resource-rich countries
• EU engagement for solution-oriented resource governance dialogues
• Practical implementation of EU principles
• EU support for more economic contribution from mining in Africa and developing countries
• EU and MS engagement for governance in resource rich developing countries with weak gov-ernance
• EU and MS support of integrated rural development schemes supporting sustainable artisanal mining
• Dialogue on an alignment of the EU Raw Material Strategy and the African Mining Vision
• EU support of European companies for due diligence and CSR
• Global dialogue including EU-China dialogue on the promotion of responsible mining and sourcing
• EU cooperation with resource-rich industrialized countries
