156th CoR Plenary Session (5-6 July 2023)

CoR Opinion Factsheet

On 16 March 2023, the Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation on CRMs. It introduces the concept of strategic raw materials (SRMs), which are key for some strategic technologies and vulnerable to shortages. The general objective of the proposed regulation is to improve the functioning of the single market by establishing a framework to ensure the EU's access to a secure and sustainable supply of CRMs. To achieve this, the regulation would pursue four specific objectives: strengthening the whole SRM value chain; diversifying the EU's imports of SRMs (so that by 2030, no third country would provide more than 65 % of the EU's annual consumption of each SRM); improving the EU's ability to monitor and mitigate the CRM supply risk; ensuring the free movement of CRMs and products containing CRMs placed on the EU market and ensuring a high level of environmental protection, by improving their circularity and sustainability.

European Critical Raw Materials Act, March 2023

The study presents the results of the fifth technical assessment 2023 of critical raw materials for the EU. The assessment screens 70 candidate raw materials comprising 67 individual materials and three materials groups: ten heavy (HREEs) and five light (LREEs) rare earth elements, and five platinum-group metals (PGMs), 87 individual raw materials in total. Four new materials have been assessed: neon, krypton, xenon and roundwood. Titanium metal has been assessed in addition to titanium. Aluminium and bauxite have been merged for consistency reasons. For comparison, 41 candidate materials have been screened in 2011, 54 in 2014, 61 in 2017, and 66 in 2020.

Currently, the EU relies almost exclusively on imports for many critical raw materials, which makes our supply vulnerable. The Critical Raw Materials Act will help to ensure that Europe has sufficient access to those materials, like rare earths, which are vital for manufacturing key technologies for the green transition. It furthermore diagnoses the need for taking into account some shifts and substitutions among REEs also for reasons of cost and locational supplies for the security of supply. Finally, the paper provides some overall policy recommendations for addressing current problems, with a conceptual framing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.