EU's green metals push collides with environmental rules, study finds

<p>The transition to a climate-neutral economy has intensified demand for critical raw materials (CRM), prompting the European Union to adopt the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) to secure supply and promote circularity. Among its objectives, the CRMA seeks to accelerate the recovery of CRM from extractive waste. However, the implementation of these ambitions depends on existing legal frameworks that were not designed for large-scale resource recovery. This article examines the institutional and legal challenges arising from the interaction between the CRMA and key areas of EU environmental law, with a particular focus on the Water Framework Directive and EU waste legislation. Through a doctrinal analysis supported by case law and examples from northern Sweden, the paper demonstrates how overlapping regulatory regimes create structural tensions between the CRMA's acceleration logic and established environmental safeguards. Water law imposes strict non-deterioration requirements that may delay or prevent project authorization, while waste law introduces significant uncertainty regarding material classification and marketability. The article identifies structural regulatory tensions: While the CRMA promotes the recovery of CRM and advances circularity and net-zero ambitions, it operates within legal frameworks that impose stringent constraints. In doing so, it effectively collides with environmental protection rules that pursue the same overarching goals, risking the obstruction of circular solutions. This tension reflects deeper inconsistencies in EU law and calls for greater legal coherence, clearer rules, and better alignment between environmental and industrial objectives.</p>