Source: European Parliament
15.10.2024
Question for written answer E-002085/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Kostas Papadakis (NI)
Plans to mine antimony in the area between the villages of Keramos and Egrigoros in northern Chios have sparked serious concern and protests among the population. This is a Natura area where the creation of a large industrial zone threatens serious consequences for the environment, groundwater and public health, and the destruction of a wider area of unspoilt nature.
The Greek Government and the EU, with generous subsidies tied to EU legislation on the strategic importance of metals and critical raw materials, are prioritising support for business groups in planned investments in the extraction of a critical raw material.
Many studies have highlighted the presence of antimony in the water table, which further degrades the quality of the island’s water, making it unfit for consumption.
In view of the above:
- 1.Is the planned mining of antimony on the island of Chios, implementing the EU’s policy on ‘critical raw materials’, destined to go ahead in an area of unspoilt nature, indeed a designated Natura area, for the sake of profits for the antimony mining groups, and to the detriment of environmental integrity and the needs of the population?
- 2.Will any environmental studies, when and if they are carried out, be conducted by the same groups on the basis of the EU policy watchword of ‘due diligence’, with the aim of protecting their own interests, not the interests of local residents and the island?
Submitted: 15.10.2024