MEPs look to secure EU supply of critical raw materials
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(STRASBOURG) - The European Parliament adopted its position Thursday on boosting the supply of strategic raw materials, seen as crucial to secure the EU's transition to a sustainable, digital and sovereign future.
The EU is dependent on certain raw materials - often to be found in such as electric cars, solar panels and smartphones. Since the Russian war against Ukraine and an increasingly aggressive Chinese trade and industrial policy, cobalt, lithium and other raw materials have also become a geopolitical factor.
With the global shift towards renewable energies and the digitisation of economies and societies, the demand for these strategic raw materials is set to rapidly increase in coming decades.
The Critical Raw Materials Act is intended to make the EU more competitive and autonomous. It will cut red tape, promote innovation along the entire value chain, support SMEs and boost research and the development of alternative materials and more environmentally-friendly mining and production methods.
In their negotiating position ahead of talks with the Council, MEPs highlight the importance of securing strategic partnerships between the EU and third countries on critical raw materials, in order to diversify the EU's supply, on equal footing, with benefits for all sides. They want to pave the way for long-term partnerships with knowledge- and technology-transfer, training and upskilling for new jobs with better working and income conditions, as well as extraction and processing on the best ecological standards in partner countries.
MEPs also want to push for a stronger focus on research and innovation concerning substitute materials and production processes that could replace raw materials in strategic technologies. They want to set circularity targets to foster the extraction of more strategic raw materials from waste products. MEPs also insist on the need to cut red tape for companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Lead MEP Nicola Beer said:"Our focus is on reducing bureaucracy, fast and simple approval processes, a research and innovation boost along the entire value chain, and targeted economic incentives for private investors with a view to European production and recycling. The European Parliament is focused on building strategic, equal partnerships with third countries."
Further information, European Partliament