To mark Europe Day 2026, the European Documentation Centre of the University of La Laguna is organizing the academic presentation “The European Union facing the global race for critical minerals and its implications for the International Seabed Zone”.

The lecture will be given by Dr. Marta Abegón Novella, Associate Professor of Public International Law at the University of Barcelona and Research Associate at UMR-SENS (Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier) and CEDAT-URV. Her work focuses on international environmental governance, the Law of the Sea, and the legal challenges linked to the ecological transition.

In this session, the speaker will analyze the role of the European Union in the growing global competition for critical minerals, essential for the digital and energy transition, as well as the legal and geopolitical implications that this dynamic poses for the International Seabed Area, a common space regulated by the International Seabed Authority.

The event will take place on Friday, May 8th at 3:30 p.m. in the Tomás y Valiente Auditorium of the Faculty of Law at the University of La Laguna. The event is open to the university community and anyone interested in the current challenges of international governance and the European Union's external action.