What is the Critical Raw Materials Act?
With this critical Raw Materials Act, the European Commission is setting targets to reduce its dependence on imports of critical and strategic materials. More specifically, it wants to strengthen the value chain of the identified critical and strategic materials so as to achieve the targets for each critical and strategic material as much as possible by 2030:
- At least 10% are extracted in Europe through mining,
- At least 40% are produced in Europe,
- The recycling capacity is at least 15%
- Europe should not be more than 70% dependent on imports from a single third country
Which materials are at stake?
The European Commission's proposal provides a list of strategic and critical materials.
Strategic materials - materials needed for the energy transition
Bismuth, boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, lithium (battery material), magnesium, manganese, natural graphite (battery material), nickel (battery material) platinum group materials, rare earth metals (for permanent magnets), silicon, titanium metal, tungsten.
Critical materials - materials where the European Commission is heavily dependent on imports and there is limited in-house production including recycling
Antimony, arsenic, bauxite, barite, beryllium, bismuth, borates, cobalt, coal for coke, feldspar, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, hafnium, helium, rare earth metals (light and heavy) lithium magnesium, manganese, natural graphite, niobium, phosphate rock, phosphorus, platinum group metals, scandium, silicon metal, strontium, tantalum, titanium metal, tungsten, vanadium.
How does the European Commission wish to achieve this?
The proposal sets up a system for strategic projects to be notified and approved at European level, through the European Commission and a new critical raw materials board. These projects will be considered of higher public interest through such approval. In so doing, the authorization process for these strategic projects will be improved, including:
- 12 months for production and recycling a maximum lead time, 24 months for mining after which periods the permit will be deemed granted in the absence of a decision;
- Strict deadlines are also set on the specific timeframes for, inter alia, the approval of the environmental impact reports that may be required, and the European Commission will monitor the lead time of such strategic projects,
- Appointing a single point of contact in the government to coordinate the various steps in the permit process,
- Invoking urgency in appeal procedures to speed them up,
Strategic projects may moreover be proposed to qualify for additional funding through other channels. This framework needs further elaboration, however.
This proposal will also have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council via an accelerated procedure. Agoria will also analyse this further in detail.
Download the Critical Raw Materials Act: proposal - communication - annex
On Wednesday 24 May Agoria & Sirris are organising 'Boarding for Business'. On the agenda: a debate on the future of our industry. Together with policy makers, industry representatives and independent observers, we will explore the policy framework and measures needed to launch a new industrial dynamism.
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