EU agrees mineral supply targets to cut reliance on China

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Negotiators for EU governments and the European Parliament reached a deal on Monday (13 November) on targets for domestic supply of critical minerals such as lithium and nickel to reduce its reliance on third countries, principally China.

The European Commission proposed the Critical Raw Materials Act in March, a centrepiece of EU plans to reduce the bloc’s dependency on China and other countries for key metals like rare earths, which are needed for making clean tech products.

The proposal said the European Union should extract 10%, recycle 15% and process 40% of its annual needs by 2030 for 16 “strategic raw materials”.

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU, the institution representing EU member states, needed to agree on a common text. They did this on Monday, parties from both sides said, paving the way for the law to enter force in early 2024.

The act’s aim is that no third country should provide more than 65% of any strategic raw material, which also includes cobalt, copper, magnesium and titanium.

It sets time limits on granting permits for strategic mining, recycling and processing projects, and requires large companies needing strategic materials in key technologies to do regular risk assessments of their supply chains.

It also has provisions designed to moderate consumption.

“The agreement is an industrial policy blueprint for a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials in Europe,” said Nicola Beer, a German liberal MEP who is the lead speaker on the file for the European Parliament.

“With targeted economic incentives, we are creating project-planning certainty for private investors – through single points of contact for companies and fast and simple authorisation procedures with clear deadlines for national authorities. This will boost mining, processing and recycling in Europe,” she said in a statement.

The political agreement now needs to be formally approved by both Parliament and Council in order to become law – a process that is usually a rubber-stamping exercise. It will be put to a vote in the Parliament’s industry, research and energy committee (ITRE) on 7 December.

EU parliament backs plans to secure raw materials supply

The European Parliament approved plans to secure the EU its own supply of critical raw materials Thursday (14 September), as Brussels seeks to reduce its dependence on China for key minerals needed for green and digital technologies.

Higher recycling goal

According to the new benchmark agreed by negotiators, the EU will aim to recycle at least 25% of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials by 2030 – up from 15% in the Commission’s original proposal.

The recycling goal will be based on materials collected from consumer waste rather than the EU’s annual consumption, a change in the calculation method that will be expounded by the European Commission in an implementing act to be adopted in 2027. Meeting the target will not be a legally-binding obligation on EU countries, howerver.

The negotiators also agreed to add aluminium to the list of strategic raw materials as well as synthetic graphite. Natural graphite was already in the list.

The latter inclusion reflects China’s plan to tighten export controls for graphite. China refines over 90% of the world’s graphite into material that is used in almost all electric vehicle anodes, the negatively charged portion of the battery.

“Without action, Europe risks supply shortages and unwanted dependencies,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market Commissioner.

The new law will also ensure “the highest environmental and social standards,” he added in a statement, saying the Commission will now “work with EU members to identify strategic projects that will benefit from shorter and more efficient permitting procedures and easier access to finance”.