Greek MEP Michalis Tremopoulos from the Green party: The concession for Ada Tepe Gold Mine violates the EU legislation

- Mr. Tremopulos, how did you learn about the gold mining concession near Krumovgrad, granted by the Bulgarian Government to Balkan Mineral and Mining – a branch of the Canadian-based company Dundee Precious Metals?
- For the green movement, environmental issues know no borders. We maintain close relations with the Bulgarian ecological movement and the Bulgarian green parties, participating in the European Green Party. There is a constant exchange of information between us.

- In what respect has the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water violated the EU legislation?
- Under Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of extractive waste, all EU member-states are required to ensure that extractive waste is managed without endangering human health, without using processes or methods which could harm the environment, and in particular without risk to water, air, soil or fauna and flora. With regard to application of the Habitats Directive, the mine should be subject to an appropriate assessment under Article 6 (3) of the Directive, in relation to its implications for Natura 2000 sites affected.

Although the Bulgarian Government has all these obligations, the Ada Tepe gold mining concession was granted - in breach of EC law - without an environmental impact assessment and without assessment of the project’s compliance with the Habitats Directive.

- What will Bulgaria lose if Dundee Precious keeps the gold mining concession?
- Currently, there is a new “gold rush” on the Balkans, in countries like Greece and Bulgaria. National and global investment corporations are taking advantage of the economic crisis, corruption among politicians and the neoliberal views of the European Commission so as to put their hands on large areas and to mine precious metals, acting in our countries as they used to in their former African colonies. Such mining usually leads to destruction of the regions, which are protected by the EU laws on environment and quality of water.

-  What do you personally think of a decision for granting of a gold mining concession to a company from a country outside the EU?
- It makes no difference whether the company is European or not. Regretfully, the gold mining industry cannot provide us any explicit guarantees that serious negative impacts on the environment and human health will be avoided. That is why, some American states such as Montana, have adopted laws against such operations. We are facing a challenge to prove that we have sufficient will to develop a democratic and stable European Union and that we will not become a colonial regime.

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