Press Release: Commission prepares initiatives on the safety of mines

The European Commission has adopted a Communication on the safe operation of mining activities in response to recent mining accidents in Baia Mare, Romania and Aznalcollar in Spain. The Communication describes a series of actions that the Commission envisages to take as a follow-up to these and other mining accidents, as announced in its Communication of 3 May 2000 on the promotion of sustainable development in the EU non-energy extractive industry. It describes the accidents, the action taken so far and preliminary lessons drawn. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström commented: 'The Baia Mare and Doñana accidents made it clear that we need to adapt or further tighten European legislation rapidly to prevent such accidents from happening again. With this Communication, the Commission wishes to focus and accelerate this work by identifying priority areas for action to improve the safety of mines. It will serve as a contribution to the ongoing work of the Baia Mare Task Force.'

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