A secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials

KEY POINTS

Strategic raw materials

• Annex I contains a list of 17 raw materials considered to be strategic in light of their importance for green and digital technologies, and for defence and aerospace applications.
• The European Commission:
  • may update the list to include more raw materials in light of their strategic importance for green and digital technologies and for defence and aerospace applications and in light of the expected global demand and production difficulties (Annex I, Section 2 sets out the methodology), or when asked to do so by the European Critical Raw Materials Board;
  • must review the list by 24 May 2027 and every three years thereafter.

Critical raw materials

• Annex II contains a list of 34 raw materials considered to be critical in light of their importance for the EU’s economy and their relatively high supply risk.
• The Commission:
  • may update the list to reflect other materials’ supply risk or economic importance (Annex II, Section 2 sets out the methodology);
  • must review the list by 24 May 2027 and every three years thereafter.

Benchmarks

The Commission and the EU Member States must:

• strengthen the different value chain stages so that, by 2030, the EU’s capacity for each raw material approaches or reaches the following EU-level benchmarks:
  • extraction capacity of ores, minerals or concentrates produces at least 10 % of annual EU consumption of strategic raw materials,
  • processing capacity, including all intermediate steps, provides at least 40 % of annual EU consumption of strategic raw materials,
  • recycling capacity, including all intermediate steps, accounts for at least 25 % of annual EU consumption of strategic raw materials;
• diversify imports of strategic raw materials so that no single non-EU country accounts for more than 65 % of a particular commodity.

Strategic projects

The Commission, following a call for applications, recognises projects as strategic if they:

• make a meaningful contribution to the security of supply of strategic raw materials;
• become technically feasible with sufficient production volume within a reasonable time frame;
• are environmentally and socially sustainable;
• produce cross-border benefits within the EU or add local value to the non-EU country they operate in, for developing economies and emerging markets.

Projects that are labelled as strategic will benefit from the support of the Commission and the relevant national governments.

The permit-granting process for strategic projects should not exceed 27 months for extraction projects and 15 months for processing or recycling projects. These time limits do not take into account the preparation of an environmental impact assessment report by the developer and may, in exceptional cases, be extended due to the nature, complexity, location or size of the strategic project.

Strategic projects will be considered to be in the public interest. In accordance with the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, additional time may be allocated for the meaningful involvement and active participation of the communities affected by the strategic project.

Strategic projects will benefit from the advice and support of the European Critical Raw Materials Board’s financing subgroup on the completion of these projects’ financing.

The Commission will set up a system to facilitate the conclusion of offtake agreements between the strategic projects and other relevant economic operators.

Member States must undertake other activities to support the developments of the critical raw materials value chain, notably to:

• designate a single point of contact to manage the permit-granting process for critical raw material projects;
• ensure planning authorities include, where appropriate, provision for such projects;
• draw up national exploration programmes targeted at critical raw materials and carrier minerals by 24 May 2025, updating them at least every five years.

Risk monitoring and mitigation

• The Commission, in collaboration with Member States’ authorities, monitors supply risks related to critical raw materials by monitoring parameters such as trade flows or price volatility and by conducting stress tests of relevant supply chains.
• In addition, the Commission cooperates with Member States to coordinate the EU’s strategic stocks of strategic raw materials to mitigate potential supply disruptions.
• To ensure preparedness, identified large companies using strategic raw materials to manufacture a range of products such as batteries for energy storage, robotics, drones and satellites will carry out a risk assessment every three years of their supply chain of strategic raw materials. The Commission will also operate a system to try to match the demand and supply of strategic raw materials.

Sustainability and circularity

• Member States will adopt national programmes on the circularity of critical raw materials, notably to incentivise technological progress, resource efficiency and circularity.
• Operators are required to draw up waste management plans and assess the potential recovery of critical raw materials from their stored extractive waste.
• Manufacturers must clearly indicate whether items such as cars, washing machines and microwaves contain one or more permanent magnets and provide information on the recycling potential of their critical raw materials.
• The Commission may recognise certification schemes on the sustainability of critical raw materials and establish rules to calculate and verify the environmental footprint of different critical raw materials.

The regulation establishes a European Critical Raw Materials Board with thematic subgroups to advise the Commission and to oversee the implementation of the legislation.