Europe’s green and digital transitions are intensifying demand for critical raw materials, at a time when sustainability, resilience, and strategic autonomy are becoming central policy priorities. This CEPS Policy Brief explores how the European Union can pursue strategic cooperation with the Western Balkans by unlocking the potential of secondary raw materials found in legacy mining and industrial waste.

Focusing on circular economy approaches, environmental rehabilitation, and regulatory alignment, the publication outlines concrete pathways for mutually beneficial cooperation. It highlights how remining and the recovery of secondary raw materials can simultaneously strengthen EU value chains and support a just green transition in the Western Balkans through innovation, skills development, improved governance, and community-centred environmental safeguards.

By framing resource recovery as an opportunity for sustainable development rather than a legacy burden, the paper contributes to a broader debate on how green industrial policy, EU enlargement, and environmental justice can advance together.