Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Stephane Sejourne, the European Union’s industry chief, stated on Wednesday that the EU cannot wait years for raw material deals and must swiftly build up stockpiles of critical minerals.
Sejourne, the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, told journalists that the EU must accelerate its progress and streamline permits, as many projects have been abandoned.
He also mentioned that recycling will probably be the EU’s final strategy to reduce dependence on critical raw material imports. Additionally, he stated that businesses should reassess their risk profiles and limit their reliance on Chinese suppliers, Reuters reported.
In order to prevent the United States from obtaining supplies “under our noses,” industry chief Stéphane Léjourné announced that the European Union intends to establish a central authority to coordinate the purchase and stockpiling of essential minerals.
In an interview, Léjourné claimed that the EU had become “collateral damage” in a dispute between the United States and China over rare earths, which are essential for clean technologies and defence.
Why is the EU rushing to secure critical minerals?
Last month, a spokesman for the European Commission stated that Brussels is working to develop a strategy to lessen its reliance on China for critical minerals by the end of the year.
The remarks follow EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement of “RESourceEU,” a plan to improve trade relations with third nations in order to fortify Europe’s supply chain resilience for strategically important metals. Joint stockpiling and an increase in domestic mining and refining are part of the plan.
The intention with the RESourceEU proposal is to come forward with a concrete initiative before the end of the year, Commission trade spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters. Without giving specifics, he added that the initiative would aim to “complement” the 2024 Critical Raw Material Act, a comparable plan to lessen the bloc’s strategic reliance on China.
What impact do China’s export curbs have on the EU industry?
The announcement comes after Beijing tightened export restrictions on a variety of minerals known as rare earths, which were put in place in April and have already caused some EU companies to halt production.
Roughly 70% of the world’s mining and 90% of its refining capacity are found in China. The world’s supply of essential minerals, which are the building blocks of everything from computers and electric cars to wind turbines, radars, and fighter jets, is dominated by China.
