HE Council of Ministers He agreed to request the Head of Government to sue. unconstitutional objection against him Extremaduran decree compelling to treat Estremadura lithium mined, that is, battery factories that want to use this resource can only be built there.
On 31st August last year, extremadural joint who heads the socialists Guillermo Fernandez Vara approved an autonomous regulation guaranteeing the use of “lithium reserves (in Extremadura) to regulate the use of lithium mines in the community, throughout the cyclewithin its own borders”.
The purpose of the norm is that the industrial benefit remains in the region. In practical terms, this means mineral found in Extremadura -where are they largest lithium mines above all European Union– can only be used for Produce batteries in factories located in this community. A kind of regional protectionism opposed by the central government.
As argued by the Executive, Council of Ministers, At the extraordinary meeting to dissolve the courts after the election call, mines is configured as public property and, in the public domain, natural public domainIt belongs to the State “in any event”, as it forms a part of it. national wealth”Subordinating its wealth to the autonomous region, bankruptcy of powers the state concerned equal rightscivil legislation and principles in mining and energy issues and the principle of equality and property rights“, advocates the Execution.
It also suggests that an organization has been established. obligation to the seller The continuation of lithium treatment and utility in Extremadura presumes that “the principles of market union, free enterprise and free competition are violated, as well as the authority of the state in matters of economic planning”.
And it adds that mining concessions also managed by contract arrangements public sector, and therefore a such an obligation to the concessionaire implies a violation of state authority in matters. public procurement, by imposing an obligation not related to the subject of the contract. “All this could also violate European regulations,” he adds.
A few months before United’s leader Fernández Vara for Extremadura approved the rule, Michael’s IreneHe asked if there was a collusion with the battery factory. dream and act They predicted a supply of lithium from Cáceres at the Navalmoral de la Mata, but the head of the Junta de Extremadura denied and assured the major The factory came not for the mines, but because “the time has come for this land”.
This European Union Projects that predict the need for up to 18 times more lithium and 5 times more cobalt by 2030, and about 60 times more lithium and 15 times more cobalt by 2050, compared to the current supply of the Union economy for batteries electric vehicles and energy storage.