CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law examines how the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) could allow Canadian mining companies to challenge Greek mining regulations. It argues that CETA's 'domestic regulatory disciplines'—which require licensing processes to be objective, transparent, and simple—conflict with the discretionary and evolving nature of Greek environmental and technical mining laws.

• CETA introduces 'domestic regulatory disciplines' that set standards for domestic licensing processes, aiming to limit the discretion and authority of regulators in EU Member States.
• Greek mining laws, including those governing environmental impact assessments (EIA) and technical studies (KMLE), contain standards that require subjective judgment, which may conflict with CETA's requirement for licensing regulations to be 'clear, transparent, and objective'.
• Specific Greek regulatory requirements are vulnerable to challenge under CETA because they rely on subjective determinations of what is 'fair', 'proportionate', or 'significant'. This includes the ability of authorities to impose remedial measures or deny permits based on the significance of environmental impacts.
• The requirement for public participation in the EIA process in Greece could be challenged as subjective under CETA, as the competent authority must consider public input that may include non-commercial considerations.
• CETA's requirement that regulations be 'established in advance' may conflict with the need for mining oversight to evolve. This includes the authority's power to modify conditions during inspections or require new EIAs when environmental impacts change.
• The briefing concludes that CETA is likely to create significant obstacles for governments attempting to protect the environment and public health from the harmful effects of mining.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIEL_CETA-mining_March2018.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIEL_CETA-mining_March2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIEL_CETA-mining_March2018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndceta, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIEL_CETA-mining_March2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }