Environmental contradictions in the EU accession process: lessons from a lithium mining project in Serbia.
The EU's ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, alongside its pursuit of strategic autonomy in critical raw materials such as lithium, often finds itself at odds with its own environmental regulations, binding on both member states and candidates. Serbia – a candidate for EU membership and...
| Published in: | Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 433 - 451 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Aug2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195895653&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195895653 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02646811 KNN jtl: Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law issn: 02646811 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 44 iid: 3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 195895653 10.1080/02646811.2025.2592206 ppf: 433 ppct: 18 formats: tig: atl: Environmental contradictions in the EU accession process: lessons from a lithium mining project in Serbia. aug: au: Ćemalović, Uroš Ćurčić, Slađana Igrutinović, Milan affil: legal expert with over 20 years of postgraduate professional and research experience in European Union law; the harmonisation of national legislation with the EU acquis; intellectual property law; environmental law; evaluation in higher education; and law and technology, including AI regulation. PhD candidate at the Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade. Her research is focused on safety culture, youth safety and health security, as well as EU security policy and strategic autonomy research associate at the Institute of European Studies su: Serbia European Union Environmental policy Autarchy Lithium mining European Union law Raw materials History of the Balkan Peninsula Greenhouse gas mitigation European Union membership sug: subj: Environmental policy Autarchy Serbia European Union Other provincial and territorial public administration Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs Other Chemical and Fertilizer Mineral Mining All other non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying Other Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers Lithium mining European Union law Raw materials History of the Balkan Peninsula Greenhouse gas mitigation European Union membership keyword: environmental protection legislation environmental security EU accession process EU enlargement lithium mining strategic raw materials environmental protection legislation environmental security EU accession process EU enlargement lithium mining strategic raw materials ab: The EU's ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, alongside its pursuit of strategic autonomy in critical raw materials such as lithium, often finds itself at odds with its own environmental regulations, binding on both member states and candidates. Serbia – a candidate for EU membership and a country possessing substantial lithium deposits – epitomises this inherent tension, enabling an analysis that extends beyond the confines of a single national jurisdiction. The paper contends that the feasibility of lithium extraction in the EU candidate countries entails the subordination of the Union's legal standards to its overarching economic and strategic imperatives. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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