As electric vehicle continue their rollout, Euractiv spoke with several French industry players looking at battery recycling to capture and re-use critical raw materials.
Establishing a list of critical raw materials list to defend Europe’s security and competitiveness was set as an essential goal by President von der Leyen, and she delivered. MEPs say now the EU has the list, it’s time to act.
The European Commission will sign a strategic partnership with Australia on critical raw materials, a source familiar with the matter told Euractiv, as the EU continues its drive to secure access to these materials from sources other than China.
The Council of the EU gave its final approval on Monday (18 March) for a strategy to secure a sustainable supply of raw materials critical for the green transition, digital industries, and defence sectors, it said in a press release.
Despite the passing of the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2023, Europe's reliance on importing critical raw materials remains a concern. In this series, Euractiv explores the EU's different routes to close the competitiveness gap in raw materials and decrease reliance on unpredictable suppliers.
Europe’s lack of own mineral reserves means that any strategy that fails to fully support the development of innovative materials to displace raw materials will fall short, writes Linus Froböse.
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted on Thursday (7 December), aims to reduce permitting times for domestic mining and recycling projects, but fails to create the broader conditions necessary for companies to make those investments, the industry says – a warning echoed by green activists.
Never waste a crisis to turn it into the opportunity. This could be a motto for the recent EU wake up to new reality of the security of supply of the critical and strategic raw materials to European supply chains. With Critical Raw Materials Act agreed in neck-breaking record speed, the EU industry is increasingly more aware to the need to change approaches to raw materials sourcing and build supply chain alliances that secure resilience and help achieving the Green Deal ambitions.
A lithium mining project has drawn hope of economic revival in a region hit by deindustrialisation in central France but the project promoters are confronted with mounting anxiety from local residents and, in some cases, opposition from elected officials.
Although the world’s eyes are already fixed on COP28 taking place in Dubai in two weeks, Brussels hosts a vital gathering this week. As this year’s EU Raw Materials Week will emphasise, the green transition will only be possible if the EU establishes the conditions to secure the raw materials it needs for net-zero technologies. Copper is one of these key raw materials.
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.
Evidence of human rights abuses on the territory of the indigenous Sámi people, and accusations of green colonialism, must prompt EU politicians to amend the law by adding clear provisions on indigenous rights, write Rasmus Kløcker Larsen and Kaisa Raitio.
A handful of Canadian, German and Australian critical mineral explorers plan to command premium prices for key metals used in electric vehicles, promising quality and consistency in exchange for shifting reliance away from China, the dominant producer and price-setter.
Experts have criticised a new report by the European Innovation Council (EIC) on emerging deep technologies, breakthrough innovations, and early-stage research projects, calling into question its approach to quantum computing and semiconductors.
China’s decision on Friday (20 October) to curb graphite exports raised the question of creating new EU strategic stocks of critical raw materials, a question that has so far been largely overlooked by Brussels.
The European Parliament voted in plenary in favour of a negotiating mandate for a new Strategic Technologies in Europe Platform (STEP) on Tuesday (17 October) but lawmakers warned this must only be a first step towards a full-fledged sovereignty fund.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton reaffirmed the Union's strategy to boost domestic production and diversify supplies of key raw materials during the first summit on the topic hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday (28 September).
The European recycling industry, backed by environmental groups, has called on Brussels to ban the export of metals recovered from used electric car batteries in a bid to promote recycling in Europe and reduce the bloc’s dependence on imported raw materials.
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.
In Portugal's northern Barroso region, Maria Loureiro weeps at the prospect of losing her family's land to a mine that could become one of Europe's biggest producers of lithium, used in electric vehicle batteries and other clean technologies.
The EU will aim to recycle at least 45% of each “Strategic Raw Material” contained in the Union’s waste under plans voted on by the European Parliament’s industry committee on Thursday (7 September).
The European Parliament's political groups want to strengthen social and environmental safeguards for “strategic” mining projects in Europe and abroad as the EU scrambles to access key raw materials needed for the green and digital transitions.
Aluminium plays a crucial role in vital green and digital technologies like semiconductors and solar panels. It has earned its place in the strategic list of the EU's draft Critical Raw Materials Act, writes Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou.
Even if new mines were to be opened in the European Union today, experts in the French mining sector say it would be very difficult to achieve the EU objectives for extracting critical and strategic raw materials by 2030.
