EU and international partners agree to expand cooperation on critical raw materials

Today, the EU, the US, and other Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) partners, joined by Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, announced the launch of the Minerals Security Partnership Forum (or “MSP Forum”). The forum will serve as a new platform for cooperation in the area of critical raw materials (CRMs) vital for the global green and digital transitions.

The Critical Raw Materials Club announced by the European Commission now becomes a full part of the MSP Forum. This will create a greater, more ambitious joint initiative linked to the Minerals Security Partnership, where the European Commission represents the EU. The Forum will bring together resource-rich countries and countries with high demand for these resources.

The work of the MSP Forum will be developed around two strands:

• a project group focused on supporting and accelerating the implementation of sustainable critical minerals projects;
• a policy dialogue that will identify policies for boosting sustainable production and local capacities, facilitate regulatory cooperation to foster fair competition, transparency and predictability, and promote high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in CRM supply chains.

Membership of the MSP Forum will be open to partners who are ready to commit to the key MSP principles, including diversification of global supply chains and high environmental standards, good governance and fair working conditions. In a sign of strong transatlantic cooperation, the EU and the United States will co-lead the new forum.

Next steps

The EU and US, together with current MSP partners, are reaching out to prospective members in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Europe, to expand the participation in the Forum and start working within the project and policy dialogue groups.

Background

The MSP Forum builds on the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Package adopted in March 2023, which emphasised the need for more diverse and more sustainable CRM supply chains through new, mutually supportive international partnerships, such as the CRM Club. The MSP currently has 15 partners (Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU).

CRMs are indispensable for a wide set of technologies needed for EU strategic sectors such as the net-zero industry, digital, space and defence. While the demand for such critical raw materials has never been higher, it is expected to continue to grow driven by the green and digital transitions. For instance, EU demand for lithium used in electric-vehicles batteries and energy storage is expected to increase twelve-fold by 2030. Meanwhile, the supply of CRMs is confronted with rising geopolitical, environmental, and social risks and challenges.