EU Commission bolsters critical raw minerals supply
The EU Commission has selected 46 new Strategic Projects across 16 Member States to support the supply of critical raw materials.
The projects will contribute to the benchmarks set in the Critical Raw Materials Act. Those includes that by 2030 EU capacity meets at least 10% of the EU's annual consumption for extraction, 40% for processing and 25% for recycling of strategic raw materials.
This to enhance competitiveness, develop greater resilience and be less dependent on any single supplier.
The new Strategic Projects are located in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
They were selected from 102 applications received in the call for applications that concluded earlier this year.
The projects cover different stages of the raw materials value chain: eight are on extraction, 11 on processing and 19 are recycling projects
In addition, there are eight integrated projects: three that combine extraction and processing, and five that combine processing and recycling, supporting the EU's integrated value chain approach. The projects cover 15 of the 17 strategic raw materials under the CRMA.
The projects will strengthen European value chains in batteries, defence and aerospace, and permanent magnets.
They include seven projects on lithium, 12 on nickel, 10 on cobalt, five on manganese and four on graphite, all of which support the EU battery value chain.
The two projects on magnesium and three on tungsten will contribute to defence and aerospace, while the four projects on rare earth elements will support the permanent magnet value chain.
The 46 projects – combined with the 47 Strategic Projects in the EU and the 13 Strategic Projects in third countries that were selected in March and June last year respectively –are expected to make a significant contribution to achieving the EU's CRM derisking and diversification targets.
The Commission will soon announce a new call for Strategic Project applications towards the end of 2026.
