In a written answer on 23 July 2026, Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, on behalf of the European Commission, addressed concerns about Spanish bureaucratic obstacles to critical minerals extraction, stressing that permitting deadlines for strategic projects have not yet been reached and calling for public-private collaboration to unlock investment. The response, which impacts mining investors, regional authorities, and EU industries reliant on critical raw materials, comes in reply to a question from MEP Alvise Pérez (NI).
Pérez had pointed to Spain's outdated 1973 Mining Act, slow authorisation processes, and a ban on new radioactive mineral concessions as hindrances to EU strategic autonomy goals set by the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). He urged the Commission to assess whether Spanish regulations obstruct European objectives and to support pro-investment reforms over state-run models.
Séjourné confirmed that Spain has nominated single points of contact (SPOCs) for permitting at regional level, as required by the CRMA, and that the Commission is aware of ongoing collaboration between SPOCs and designated strategic projects. For extraction projects, the permitting timeline for strategic projects is 27 months from acknowledgment of completeness; for ongoing procedures, it is 24 months. Since the first strategic projects were designated on 25 March 2025, these deadlines have not yet been reached. The answer does not assess whether Spanish regulations hinder EU objectives, instead stating that potential regulatory changes are to be assessed at the respective governance level. On the question of state-run versus private investment, Séjourné highlighted the RESourceEU Action Plan, under which the Commission, Member States, and financial institutions are working to de-risk investments, emphasising that 'fostering the development of a European critical raw material value chain also requires sufficient private capital from within the EU.' The response contains no concrete proposals or numerical targets beyond existing CRMA timelines, and no indication of further Commission action on Spanish legislation. Institutional follow-up is likely to focus on monitoring permitting progress as the 2027 deadlines approach.