Publication

This paper looks at the gold mining project at Roșia Montană in Romania and the Romanian public's opposition to it. Public concerns include environmental safety, the real economic benefits of the project for the state, as well as the politicians’ ability to ensure national interests are secured. To address these concerns, argue the authors, the EU should make sure that member states conduct these projects in a transparent way and in full compliance with existing European regulation on the extraction of raw materials and minerals as well as environmental standards. This is especially important at a time when a debate on relaunching gold mining is gaining momentum in Europe.