Commission seeks views on the future European Critical Raw Materials Act

Today, the Commission has launched a call for evidence and a public consultation in preparation of the European Critical Raw Materials Act, which was announced by President von der Leyen during her 2022 State of the Union Speech. Interested parties are invited to provide comments and evidence and reply to targeted questions on the current problems faced along the critical raw materials supply chain within and outside of the EU and how to address them. The questions cover the different stages of the value chain, from extraction to processing and recycling. The Critical Raw Materials Act will notably aim to identify policy actions necessary for developing strategic projects to strengthen the EU supply chains while maintaining a sustainable level playing field. This legislative act will be complemented with a Communication presenting other initiatives to facilitate the supply diversification, through actions with third countries, including trade, cooperation and industrial strategic agreements, which could take the form of partnerships, sectoral agreements or multilateral initiatives. Critical Raw Materials are essential for the deployment of the technologies that enable the green and digital transitions. For instance, rare earths are key components of the permanent magnets used to manufacture wind turbines, lithium or cobalt are used in battery manufacturing, polysilicon is used for semi-conductors. The acceleration of the green and digital transitions will increase the European and global demand for those critical raw materials and the EU must ensure that it can secure the critical raw materials it will need in the future. Interested parties can provide their input over the next 8 weeks, until 25 November 2022.