IMPACT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTIONS ON THE ROMANIAN MINING LAW

The process of world trade and business globalisation requires the restructuring of the manner in which national governments are regulating their mineral resources protection and valorisation issues. In 1997, there were more than 175,000 miners in Romania. Eight years later, their number has dropped to 57,000, and the trend is continuing. Within this restructuring context, the paper has as goal firstly, to briefly present the main international conventions concerning environmental protection important to mining industry and, on the other hand, to highlight those prescriptions that exerts a major impact on Romanian mining legislation. Based on a thorough critical analysis of international conventions and protocols on environmental protection, ratified by the Romanian Parliament, we have identified three categories of errors that are frequently occurring in connection with the perception of international conventions. We have detailed the impact induced by every major convention/protocol on the protection and recovery regime of mineral resources. The ultimate goal which subsumes the study results taken is to create the procedural framework for promoting sustainable development of mining industry.