Landmark projects for key raw materials projects adopted by the European Commission
The European Commission said on Tuesday that 47 strategic projects have been adopted to ensure access to key raw materials in the EU.
The EU is seeking to increase its supply of major minerals, such as lithium, manganese and cobalt, which are important in many emerging industries, such as manufacturing batteries and chips.
At present, European countries are relying heavily on key raw materials from other countries, including China.
The move comes one year after the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which came into effect in May 2024, aims to help the Group participate in global competitions to extract, process and recycle important resources.
“Today, we have identified 47 new strategic projects that will help us secure our domestic supply of raw materials for the first time,” said Stéphane Séjourné, vice president of prosperity and industrial strategy at the commission. “This is a milestone moment for European sovereignty as an industrial power.”
These projects are located in 13 EU member states and cover 14 of the 17 strategic raw materials listed in the CRMA.
The 22 focus on lithium, nickel is 12, 10 on cobalt, 11 on graphite, and 7 on manganese.
Three projects are located in Germany, while others are concentrated in Spain, Finland and France.
According to the Commission’s statement, “To achieve operationality, the overall capital investment of the 47 strategic projects is expected to be 22.5 billion euros (USD 24.3 billion).
The statement added that the selected projects “will be able to benefit from the coordinated support of the Commission, member states and financial institutions in order to become operations, especially regarding access to finance.”
The committee said the programs will also grant licenses in less than 27 months, rather than the usual five to ten years.
