EU unveils critical material projects to cut China dependence

BRUSSELS: The EU on Tuesday unveiled dozens of projects to ramp up extraction of critical raw materials in Europe as the bloc seeks to reduce its over-reliance on China.

Brussels has been scrambling to secure critical minerals and rare earth elements, which are essential for electronic goods such as batteries and needed for the bloc´s green transition. The European Commission published a list of 47 ‘strategic projects’ which include opening mines for lithium -- needed for electric cars -- and tungsten.

The projects in 13 EU member states will benefit from easier access to European Union financing as well as simpler and faster permitting processes. “Europe currently depends on third countries for many of the raw materials it needs the most. We must increase our own production, diversify our external supply, and make stockpiles,” said EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne.

The projects seek to ensure European extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials that are also needed for arms as the bloc looks to increase defence investment, the commission said.

Permits must be granted within 27 months for extraction projects and 15 months for processing or recycling projects, the commission said. They are part of the Critical Raw Materials Act, a major law the EU hopes will protect the green tech industry and maintain production in Europe.

The law lists 17 strategic raw materials such as boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium and nickel. It also stipulates that by 2030, the EU must meet 10 per cent of its extraction needs, 40 per cent of its processing and 25 per cent of its recycling needs for each material.

The act also states that the bloc must also not rely on any one non-EU country for more than 65 per cent of its strategic raw material needs. According to EU data, China provides 100 per cent of the bloc’s supply of heavy rare earth elements while Turkey provides 98 per cent of the EU’s supply of boron.