The EU Commission is proposing production targets for certain raw materials – and wants to make companies in the cleantech and high-tech sectors more responsible.
Without critical raw materials, Europe will not succeed in the energy transition. In order to reduce dependencies, the EU Commission proposes a package of measures intended to strengthen the entire value chain of strategic raw materials. Specifically, the EU Commission is calling for the member states to jointly produce at least 40 percent of all their strategic raw materials from 2030 onwards. This is based on the draft of the ordinance for critical raw materials, which is available to WirtschaftsWoche. The EU Commission will present the final version on March 14th.
“Given the key role of critical raw materials in the green and digital transformation and their use in defense and space, demand will increase exponentially in the coming decades,” warns the EU Commission. For lithium, a key material for batteries, demand is expected to increase by a factor of 57 by 2050. “At the same time, the risk of supply disruptions is growing amid geopolitical tensions and competition for resources.”
Avoid dependencies on third countries like China
Specifically, the EU Commission is proposing that the EU should in future produce at least ten percent of its strategic raw material requirements itself. The EU should cover 15 percent of the demand for all strategic raw materials through recycling in Europe. In addition, according to the will of the EU Commission, the 27 EU countries should avoid dependencies on third countries such as China in the future. From 2030, the EU must no longer be more than 70 percent dependent on a third country for strategic raw materials, according to the draft regulation. Specifically, the EU Commission points out that in 2021 the supply of magnesium from China was interrupted. At that time, the EU was 95 percent dependent on this one supplier.
The EU Commission also wants to oblige large companies that produce strategic technologies – such as batteries, electric cars, hydrogen, heating pumps, drones, satellites and modern semiconductors – to carry out stress tests every two years so that they can run through all possible scenarios in the event of a supply disruption. In addition, the companies should carry out an audit in which the proportion of strategic raw materials in the total input is recorded. This is intended to sensitize management. “These measures mean that the costs of potential delivery difficulties are taken into account more,” says the draft regulation.
The EU Commission wants to introduce a special category of strategic projects for raw materials, which can also be located in third countries. These projects should be able to access financing more easily and permits should be granted more quickly than before.
In the future, EU member states are to inform the EU Commission which strategic stocks they have of certain raw materials.
In addition, the EU Commission wants to set up a system so that the demand for certain raw materials is bundled. This task may be outsourced. The idea, however, is that small and medium-sized companies get access to critical raw materials. EU member states that want to replenish their strategic stocks can also use this joint purchasing.
The EU Commission wants to publish a list of strategic and critical raw materials every four years. The aim is to take into account how relevant raw materials are for the green and digital transition – and how far future demand and current production are drifting apart. The critical raw materials are also determined using a mathematical formula that takes into account, for example, substitution options.
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