COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS RESourceEU Action Plan Accelerating our critical raw materials strategy to adapt to a new reality
Date: 2025-12-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU strategy, action programme, circular economy, innovation, international cooperation, management of resources, raw material, security of supply, single market, supply chain, value chain

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 3.12.2025  COM(2025) 945 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS RESourceEU Action Plan  Accelerating our critical raw materials strategy to adapt to a new reality  
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

RESourceEU Action Plan 

Accelerating our critical raw materials strategy to adapt to a new reality 

INTRODUCTION 

History has shown that with sufficient ambition and the right tools, the EU is capable of 
reducing  even  deep-seated  dependencies.  This  was  demonstrated  with  REPowerEU  (1), 
which  reshaped  our  energy  landscape  including  the  phase-out  of  Russian  gas imports. 
Today, the Commission adopts the RESourceEU Action Plan, applying a similar logic of 
derisking  and  diversification  to  critical  raw  materials.  RESourceEU  mobilises  a  large 
spectrum  of  policy  tools  as  well  as  private  and  public  actors  so  that,  together,  the  EU 
accelerates the implementation of its Critical Raw Materials Strategy, reduces its critical 
dependencies, and strengthens its economic security. 

In 2024, the EU has already put forward ambitious measures in the Critical Raw Materials 
Act (CRMA) (2). This Act sets clear objectives for EU supply security: by 2030, the EU 
should have the capacity to extract 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of the strategic raw 
materials it consumes (3). In parallel, the EU should diversify its supply so that it does not 
depend on a single country for more than 65% of its demand. While the direction is clear, 
it is essential that we accelerate our progress towards it. 

CRMs are essential for the EU’s competitiveness, clean energy and digital transitions, as 
well as for its defence and aerospace needs and food security. However, for most CRMs 
(including  the  26  that  are  relevant  for  the  energy  transition),  the  EU  is  excessively 
dependent on imports from non-EU countries. China has established a dominance of global 
production capacity at all value chain stages, from extraction to metal making or magnet 
manufacturing (4). This stronghold creates dependencies for the EU and other partners, that 
are increasingly weaponised for geopolitical purposes with an ability to significantly affect 
EU manufacturing. A crisis in the supply of CRMs is a very real and present threat to the 
EU. 

The rising demand for CRMs is driving a geopolitical scramble to access resources. China 
acts with the whole of supply chain approach, leveraging its CRM market power to steadily 
expand its dominance across key downstream value chains (batteries, electric vehicles or 

(1)  https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/markets-and-consumers/actions-and-measures-energy-

prices/repowereu-3-years_en  

(2)  Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 establishing 
a  framework  for  ensuring  a  secure  and  sustainable  supply  of  critical  raw  materials  and  amending 
Regulations (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020. 

(3)  Strategic raw materials (SRMs) are a subset of critical raw materials, defined in the CRMA and used in 
strategic technologies for the digital and green transition as well as for defence and aerospace industries. 
CRMs and SRMs are listed in the Annexes 1 and 2 of the CRMA. 

(4)  Carrara, S., Baldassarre, B., Jakimów, M., Kuzov, T., Mc Govern, L. et al., Deep dive on critical raw 
materials for wind turbines in the EU, Black, C. (editor), Publications Office of the European Union, 
Luxembourg, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/5665594, JRC141759. 

1 

 
 
 
 
wind  turbines).  This  is  achieved  through  a  mix  of  Non-Market  Economy  Policies  and 
Practices,  including  subsidies  across  the  value  chain,  which  help  scale  up  domestic 
production,  create  overcapacity,  use  predatory  supply  and  pricing  practices,  force 
technology transfers, and invest to control the value chains in third countries.  

In  addition,  over  the  past  three  years,  China  has  adopted  a  series  of  export  control 
measures, covering CRMs such as graphite, gallium, tungsten, bismuth, germanium and 
rare earths, but also final products like batteries, or equipment related to processing rare 
earths elements. The 9 October 2025 restrictions included extraterritorial controls on any 
industrial or defence product containing certain CRMs. Their suspension by a year offers 
only a temporary and partial relief. EU industrial players remain affected by other measures 
still in effect, which cause administrative blockages and shipping delays. European car and 
machinery  producers,  and  medical  devices  manufacturers,  are  rushing  to  secure  their 
supply of rare earth permanent magnets. With few alternatives on the market, they are often 
left waiting, without visibility on the timing of approval of the licenses and are required to 
provide sensitive business information. 

This risks leading to production shutdowns and eventually to plants’ closure and lay-offs, 
while undermining the EU’s economic security, long-term competitiveness and transitions 
objectives. Critical dependencies for certain CRMs also risk hampering the EU’s ability to 
deliver on its 2030 defence readiness objectives and to support militarily Ukraine, thereby 
posing a direct security risk and undermining the goals of the European Economic Security 
Communication (5). Ensuring the resilience of these strategic supply chains, shielding them 
from  external  interference  and  preventing  risky  dependencies  is  also  among  the  main 
economic security objectives. Other global players have been taking measures to address 
their dependencies, such as the United States, which is entering into CRMs projects on 
offtakes agreements and signing partnerships with partner countries.  

Through a coherent Team Europe approach, stronger and faster measures are now required 
in the EU as market forces cannot deliver the necessary diversification by themselves. Due 
to an uneven playing field, it is often costlier to produce in the EU than in other regions, 
like for permanent magnets, for which it can be three times more expensive. This is due to 
a  variety  of  reasons,  ranging  from  energy  prices  to  stricter  regulatory  environments. 
Furthermore,  outright  market  manipulation  by  incumbents  creates  price  instability  and 
weakens the business case of European CRMs projects. This deters European downstream 
industries from committing to long-term purchase agreements with EU suppliers. The EU 
must  address  the  difficulties  faced  by  new  entrants  to  operate  in  a  highly  concentrated 
market,  especially  where  other  actors  deploy  non-market  practices  and  behaviours 
motivated by geopolitical or other non-economic interests.  

The Commission is therefore adopting  the RESourceEU Action Plan to accelerate the 
achievement of the CRMA objectives, preserve and expand EU production of primary and 
secondary CRMs, strengthen the EU’s resilience against supply disruptions and chart  a 
path towards a faster diversification of CRMs supply chains. As such, the RESourceEU 
Action Plan complements other measures to advance the Union’s economic security goals, 
as part of a strategic approach presented in the Economic Security Communication and 
contributes to the objectives set out in the Communication on the Clean Industrial Deal (6).  

(5) COM/2025/977 final.(6) COM/2025/85 final. 

(6) COM/2025/85 final. 

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raw  materials,  given 

their  strategic  dimension 

Though the Action Plan can support all critical raw materials, the immediate focus is to 
boost  the  value  chains  for  rare  earths  permanent  magnets,  battery  raw  materials  and 
defence-related 
for  Europe’s 
competitiveness, transition and defence readiness objectives. For that purpose, this Action 
Plan  provides  measures  to  accelerate  the  roll-out  of  CRM  projects  that  can  become 
operational  in  2029  and  before.  Once  operationalised,  those  mature  projects  can 
significantly contribute to the reduction of the EU’s dependencies and drive forward the 
rest of the value chain, helping set the basis for a competitive CRMs industry in Europe 
and  for  the  successful  achievement  of  all  current  and  future  CRMs  Strategic  Projects. 
Circularity will be a central enabler of this endeavour, driven by the support to recycling 
projects and regulatory incentives to recover raw materials. 

1.  SECURING SUPPLY WITH THE EUROPEAN CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS CENTRE 

The critical raw materials challenge requires strategic oversight and a long-term European 
structural response to fulfil the objectives of the CRMA and RESourceEU. 

Learning  from  the  experience  of  Japan’s  Organization  for  Metals  and  Energy 
Security (JOGMEC), the Commission will establish in 2026 a European Critical Raw 
Materials Centre (‘the Centre’) with the mandate to help securing access to CRMs for the 
European industry. The Centre will develop a systemic intelligence on CRMs value chain 
and  on  primary  and  secondary  markets,  to  inform  European  and  national  actions  on 
investment, stockpiling and joint purchasing.  

By using this intelligence, the Centre will play a pivotal role in steering actions and 
financing,  both  at  EU  and  national  level  along  the  EU  CRMs  supply  chain,  and,  in 
particular, in Strategic Projects, relying on financial instruments tailored to projects’ needs, 
ranging from loan and guarantee to equity, in cooperation with public and private financial 
institutions and Member States’ CRMs funds. Acting as a portfolio manager, the Centre 
will encompass both domestic and global activities to build a diversified, sustainable and 
secure primary and secondary CRMs value chain. The Centre will also monitor projects 
throughout their development cycle and operations to ensure that they quickly ramp up and 
continue operating in the EU and within trusted partner countries. 

The Centre will act as a shield to support the long-term EU competitiveness and the 
resilience  of  the  Single  market  by  facilitating  strategic  stockpiles  of  primary  and 
secondary  CRMs,  in  coordination  with  EU  industrial  players  and  Member  States.  To 
ensure  the  viability  of  projects  and  to  develop  the  stockpiles,  the  Centre  will  have  the 
necessary mandate to undertake joint purchasing operations and matchmake demand and 
supply. The Centre will also prioritise the purchase of critical raw materials of relevance 
for  the  strategic  sectors  of  the  Union,  such  as  aerospace  and  defence,  while  ensuring 
coherence and complementarity with Member State and industry’s own stockpiling efforts. 

The Centre will start its operations in 2026, building on the mechanisms of CRMA 
and RESourceEU. The Commission will also propose legislative instruments by Q2 2026 
to equip it with the necessary tools to conduct all its envisaged activities in a second stage.  

2.  PROMOTING AND ACCELERATING PRIORITY PROJECTS 

Identifying  and  supporting  relevant  projects  is  an  essential  condition  for  the 
emergence of a European CRM supply chain and for ensuring the diversification of 

3 

 
EU supply sources. The Commission has already approved 60 Strategic Projects under 
the CRMA, including 13 in third countries (7). Among those Strategic Projects and other 
CRMs projects, some have the capacity to be deployed in the very short term to help the 
EU reduce its dependencies on a single country of origin by 30 to 50% by 2029 at the latest 
for  battery,  rare  earth  or  defence  related  raw  materials  value  chains (8).  To  achieve  the 
necessary production capacity, those projects must mobilise around EUR 2.15 billion to 
meet  their  estimated financial needs for both capital and  operational  expenditures.  This 
cannot  be  achieved  without  public  intervention  to  de-risk  projects  and  mobilise  the 
substantial private investments needed.  

De-risking tools must therefore be mobilised and regulatory bottlenecks must be unlocked 
to  accelerate  the  production  start  of  such  relevant  projects.  Projects  would  otherwise 
remain  constrained  by  investors’  reluctance  to  commit  to  long-term  and  complex 
operations and by the downstream industry’s limited interests in offtake agreements.  

2.1.  Creating a CRM financing hub to accelerate CRMs projects in the EU 

and in partner countries  

The  Commission,  Member  States  and  public  and  private  financial  institutions  are 
already engaged to support the Strategic Projects selected earlier this year under the 
CRMA.  Fostering  the  development  of  a  European  CRMs  value  chain  also  requires 
sufficient  private  capital  from  within  the  EU.  In  this  perspective,  the  Savings  and 
Investments  Union  will  play  a  key  role  in  facilitating  EU  companies’  access  to  private 
funding at each stage of their life cycle.  

There is a range of EU funding programmes providing support to the CRMs value chain. 
The Innovation Fund’s 2024 call awarded five CRMs projects for EUR 376 million, in 
particular the Polvolt Strategic Project to manufacture a low-emission recycling facility for 
battery  raw  materials  in  Poland.  In  addition,  several  Innovation  Fund  projects  have 
received the STEP Seal to facilitate funding at national level. The Just Transition Fund 
has  provided  EUR  18.7  million  in  funding  to  Neo  Performance’s  Rare  earths  magnet 
project in Estonia. 

As  part  of  its  new  CRM  strategic  initiative,  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  is 
committed to provide up to EUR 2 billion financing per year for CRM-related projects, via 
loans, venture debt, and private funds (9). To date, the EIB has already provided financing 
to  the  Strategic  Projects  UpCatalyst  (processing  of  graphite)  and  Keliber  (lithium 
extraction and processing) via loan agreements, supported also by InvestEU. The EIB has 
put  in  place  a  dedicated  CRM  advisory  support  to  help  CRM  projects  become  more 
bankable,  providing  technical  assistance  and  guidance  on  structuring  projects  to  attract 
investment.  

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with the support of 
the  Commission,  launched  a  facility  to  mobilise  EUR  100  million  to  invest  equity  into 
CRM exploration projects (10). The EBRD also invested in equity around EUR 6 million 
in the EuroManganese Strategic Project in the Czech Republic and EUR 3.6 million in the 

(7)  https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-

materials/strategic-projects-under-crma/selected-projects_en  
(8)  Estimates based on announced planned production capacities. 
(9)  https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2025-156-eib-steps-up-financing-for-european-security-and-defence-

and-critical-raw-materials  

(10)  EBRD and EU to mobilise up to €100 million for critical raw materials investments 

4 

 
 
Sarytogan  Graphite  Strategic  Project  in  Kazakhstan (11)  (12).  EU-level  de-risking 
financing  is  essential  to  support  the  development  of  a  EU  CRM  value  chain,  but 
additional efforts are needed with a hands-on, result and project-oriented approach. 
As a starting point, the Commission will coordinate today’s fragmented funding sources 
on CRMs as well as the different actors involved. From research funding, through scale up 
funding, and grants management, the Commission will bring enhanced coherence to all 
these actions. The Commission will also work to avoid disconnections between internal 
and external action instruments to promote all relevant projects for the EU and ensure a 
value chain approach to CRMs projects, taking into account the contribution of SMEs.  

technical  assistance 

The Commission will set up a CRM financing hub to coordinate strategically funding 
support,  provide 
to  project  promoters  and  national 
administrations  and  accelerate  projects  development.  The  financing  hub  will  bring 
together different pillars to provide support to relevant projects along the value chain, with 
a  specific  emphasis  on  recycling,  and  different  levels  of  technological  maturity  (from 
innovation to market deployment):  

•  InvestEU provides critical de-risking capacity for CRM projects along the value 
chain.  The  Commission  expects  to  mobilise  around  EUR  2  billion  in  additional 
Critical  Raw  Materials  related  investments  in  the  2026-2027  period,  including 
thanks to the reinforcement of the InvestEU omnibus. 

• 

In addition, the Innovation Fund will support innovative projects along the CRMs 
value chain: the 2025 call will dedicate EUR 1 billion to clean tech manufacturing 
with  a  strong  emphasis  on  strengthening  CRMs  value  chains  for  clean  tech 
applications in the EU, such as for rare earths permanent magnets and batteries. 

•  The Battery Booster, with an envelope of EUR 1.8 billion, will also be designed 
to fund CRMs projects crucial to the battery value chain, notably lithium, cobalt, 
nickel, manganese and graphite, for up to EUR 300 million.  

•  Given their importance for the defence industry, the Commission will work with 
the Member States to integrate critical raw materials as a priority area in the context 
of the Security of Supply regime and funding priorities for the upcoming European 
Defence Industry Programme (13).  

In 2026, the Commission will launch a new approach to project financing, which will put 
the  focus  on  increasing  the  long-term  viability  of  CRMs  projects  by  incentivising  and 
securing  their  offtake  in  the  EU.  This  approach  will  put  a  premium  on  increasing  EU 
demand for diversified and resilient CRMs supply chains.  

In 2026, at least EUR 700 million will be made available from the Innovation Fund in the 
call dedicated to clean tech manufacturing and CRMs supply chains. In this call, both clean 
tech and CRMs projects  will be  eligible to  apply  and the Commission  will promote an 
integrated approach by prioritising clean tech manufacturing projects -sourcing critical raw 
materials through domestic offtake agreements or from other diversified sources in reliable 
partners.  Where  the  project  promoter  shows  this  is  not  feasible,  a  plan  for  rapid 
diversification  of  CRM’s  supply  will  be  required.  Member  States  will  be  invited  to 

(11)  Euro Manganese equity | We invest in changing lives 
(12) AsxDownload.aspx 
(13)  https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-defence-industry/edip-dedicated-programme-

defence_en  

5 

 
 
contribute funding to  this call in  the form  of  a grant-as-a-service, in  compatibility  with 
State aid. 

Furthermore,  the  Commission  will  work  with  Member  states  and  interested  financial 
institutions to design de-risking financial instruments, such as Contracts for Difference, to 
further incentivise such offtake agreements. 

In line with the EU Economic Security Communication, it will be essential to ensure 
that the projects supported continue to deliver security of supply. The Commission 
will work with the EIB and the EBRD to set out stringent conditions to ensure that CRMs 
projects supported by EU funds deliver to their intended markets.  

The Critical Raw Materials Centre will play a central role in monitoring and supporting 
project  development  and  implementation  and  coordinate  the  activities  of  the  CRM 
financing hub. 

Overall, as part of a Team Europe approach, the EU should mobilise EUR 3 billion 
of EU funds within the next 12 months in direct support of the CRM value chain.  

2.2.  Leveraging the capacity of Member States and regions 

The  scale  of  the  challenge  requires  an  all-encompassing  approach,  maximising 
synergies  between  EU-level  support  and  fundings  from  national  and  local 
administrations.  France,  Germany,  Italy  and  the  Netherlands  have  launched  national 
CRMs  funds,  with  others  pursuing  similar  actions.  Member  States  are  encouraged  to 
leverage  their  domestic  funds  on  CRMs  to  ensure  the  prompt  roll-out  of  projects 
contributing to the EU value chain resilience. To that end, Member States are encouraged 
to make full use of the possibilities to grant aid for eligible projects, notably on the basis 
of State aid schemes approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework. In 
the  context  of  the  mid-term  review  of  cohesion  policy  programmes,  the  Commission 
encourages Member States and regions to channel up to EUR 1 billion funding to support 
Strategic Projects selected under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Funds are already being 
reallocated to investments contributing to the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for 
Europe Platform (STEP), which encompasses CRM value chains (14).  

In parallel, Member States are encouraged to use financial assistance for stockpiling raw 
materials to improve the availability of defence products under the Security Action for 
Europe (SAFE) Regulation (15). Member States that are also NATO allies can build on 
the  Hague  Summit  Declaration  to  channel  funding  towards  defence-relevant  CRMs 
projects as part of their 1.5% of GDP commitment to strengthen their security (16). 

It is essential that cooperation and coordination continue between the EU and national level 
to maximise the impacts of public intervention. That is why the Commission will continue 
to  work  with  Member  States  and  financial  institutions  to  coordinate  the  rolling-out  of 
CRMs funding instruments within the Critical Raw Materials Board.  

(14)  https://strategic-technologies.europa.eu/index_en  
(15)  Council  Regulation  (EU)  2025/1106  of  27  May  2025  establishing  the  Security  Action  for  Europe 

(SAFE) through the Reinforcement of the European Defence Industry Instrument. 

(16)  The Hague Summit Declaration | NATO Official text 

6 

 
 
2.3.  Operationalising international partnerships toward concrete projects 

International partnerships on raw materials are bringing concrete results for the EU 
and  its  partners.  Bilaterally,  projects,  investments  and  cooperation  programmes  are 
conducted under the umbrella of the partnerships. Across its 15 partners, the Commission 
has identified a pipeline of 60 projects of direct relevance to the EU (17). CRMs imports 
from Canada, Kazakhstan, Greenland, Chile and Namibia have increased both in volume 
and value in the past years (18).  

Yet,  the  evolving  global  circumstances  require  a  more  operational  to  strategic 
partnerships  and  multilateral  initiatives.  Based  on  a  project-driven  approach,  the 
Commission will provide a toolkit to support relevant projects at different stages of their 
development and to ensure they create high local value added and other socioeconomic 
benefits. First, under Horizon Europe 2021-2027 the Commission will launch a co-funded 
European  partnership  composed  of  Member  States  and  third  countries  to  co-finance 
research and innovation projects along the CRMs value chain for an expected total budget 
of  EUR  300  million (19).  Second,  Global  Gateway’s  financial  instruments  will  support 
Strategic Projects and other relevant projects outside of the EU, ensuring that supplies will 
be  directed  towards  EU  offtakes,  such  as  with  Greenland  Resources’  Malmbjerg 
molybdenum project. EFSD+ Guarantee instruments will be used to crowd in public and 
private capital in complex, high-risk CRM environments. Third, the EIB CRM Task Force 
Facility and the Commission’s CRM Facility will provide technical assistance, supporting 
promising  projects  to  reach  bankability.  More  mature  projects  could  then  be  supported 
with  a  guarantee  or  blending  instruments  from  the  European  Fund  for  Sustainable 
Development Plus. 

Beyond that, the EU should mobilise all its diplomatic and economic tools to facilitate the 
rapid conclusions of contracts between European and third countries’ companies along the 
raw materials value chain.  

2.4. 

Speeding up projects’ delivery 

The  Commission  is  working  to  help  ensure  the  long-term  viability  of  EU  relevant 
projects by streamlining and simplifying the permit-granting process.  

The CRMA provides a first response to permitting uncertainties by requiring that Member 
States enforce a strict permitting timeline for Strategic Projects (27 months for extraction 
projects and 15 months for processing and recycling projects) and establish Single Point(s) 
of Contact to coordinate projects’ permit-granting process. However, Member States that 
have not yet established Single Point(s) of Contact should set them up immediately, while 
all  Member  States  should  provide  their  administration  with  the  necessary  resources  to 
abide by the CRMA permitting timelines for Strategic Projects. Lack of a designated Single 

(17)  Argentina,  Australia,  Canada,  Chile,  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo,  Greenland,  Kazakhstan, 

Namibia, Norway, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zambia. 

(18)  For example, CRM imports from Kazakhstan have increased both in volume (from 32 153.3 tons to 673 
982.9 tons) and value (from EUR 188 million to EUR 662 million) over the period 2000  – 2024. For 
Canada in particular, EU total imports of certain CRMs increased between the pre-CETA period (2012-
2016) and the post-CETA period (2017-2023). EU imports of lithium grew by 11%, graphite by 33%, 
manganese by 28%, and rare-earth elements by 24%.  

(19)  https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/HORIZON_HORIZON-CL4-INDUSTRY-2025-01-

MATERIALS-64  

7 

 
 
Point  of  Contact,  especially  for  projects  designated  as  Strategic,  like  Rovina’s  copper 
extraction in Romania, impedes the acceleration of permitting procedures. 

The  Commission  is  reviewing  and  adapting  its  legal  framework  to  remove  any 
regulatory bottlenecks to unlock the potential of domestic production and recycling. 

As a first step,  the  Commission  will table  a proposal on environmental permitting 
acceleration, which will include provisions speeding up permitting for CRMs projects.  

Additionally, to increase the synergies and complementarity between the Water Resilience 
Strategy and the Critical Raw Materials Act,  the Commission will in Q1 2026 issue a 
guidance  document  to  enable  a  simpler  and  more  harmonised  implementation  in 
Member States of the EU law on environmental permitting, including aspects relating 
to the mining sector. The guidance document will clarify elements such as the compliance 
of Environmental Quality Standards at the level of the water body as a whole and promote 
easier and faster compliance. It will also confirm that the law allows to take into account 
‘natural’ background concentrations when assessing the chemical status of surface water. 

In  addition  to  the  guidance,  by  Q2  2026  the  Commission  will  review  and  revise  the 
Water Framework Directive building on stakeholders’ input and experiences in Member 
States,  paying  particular  attention  to  simplification  and  the  need  to  address  potential 
bottlenecks, in order to promote circularity and access to critical raw materials in the EU, 
while protecting the environment and human health.  

The  Commission  will  also  consider  the  specific  operational  realities  of  the  extractive, 
recycling and processing sectors in the announced revision of the Registration, Evaluation, 
Authorisation  and  Restriction  of  Chemicals  (REACH)  Regulation  and  in  the  current 
implementation  and  possible  future  revisions  of  the  Carcinogens,  Mutagens  and 
Reprotoxic  Substances  (CMRD)  Directive,  while  fully  upholding  the  highest  level  of 
protection for workers, health and the environment (20) (21). 

Beyond  permitting,  CRM  activities  require  supportive  enabling  conditions.  The 
Commission has launched a project to support beneficial  industrial cooperation along 
the  CRMs  value  chain,  including  cooperation  between  SMEs,  in  compliance  with 
competition  law.  The  Commission  also  stands  ready  to  provide  guidance  to  companies 
involved in efficiency-enhancing industrial cooperation projects.  

Lastly, the EU is also  acting to  address the human capital needs of CRMs activities by 
establishing a large-scale skills partnership on critical raw materials and a Raw Materials 
Academy  to  promote  skills  relevant  to  the  workforce  in  critical  raw  materials  supply 
chains (22) (23). 

Actions to promote and accelerate priority projects  
The  Commission  will set up  a  multi-pillars  CRM  financing  hub  to  de-risk  CRMs  projects 
through a range of EU instruments, including InvestEU, the EU Innovation Fund, the Battery 

(20)   Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 

concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). 

(21)  Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the protection 
of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances at work. 

(22)  https://pact-for-skills.ec.europa.eu/document/download/9a32c1f7-66e4-4af9-86db-df5a25856db7_en  
(23)  https://eitrawmaterials.eu/rawmaterials-academy  

8 

 
 
Booster or the European Defence Industry Programme. It aims to mobilise EUR 3 billion within 
the next 12 months. 
The Commission, Member States and partner countries will further operationalise the Strategic 
Partnerships by accelerating support to projects in third countries through technical assistance, 
guarantee and blending instruments supported by EU diplomatic and economic tools. 

To kick-start the implementation of RESourceEU, the Commission and the EIB are today 
unlocking financial support for 2 CRMs projects that will promptly deliver on the EU needs: 
Greenland  Resources’  Malmbjerg  molybdenum  project  to  achieve  supply  security  for  the 
defence sector; and Vulcan's lithium's extraction Strategic Project in Germany, to contribute to 
supply of battery raw materials. The project secured EUR 250 million of financial support from 
the European Investment Bank. 

The Commission will propose adjustments to the EU regulatory framework on permitting to 
improve the framework conditions to help CRM projects become operational more quickly. 
By Q1 2026, the Commission will issue a guidance on the Water Framework Directive and, by 
Q2 2026, the Commission will review and revise it. 

3.  UNLEASHING THE CIRCULARITY AND INNOVATION POTENTIAL 

3.1.  Keeping CRMs in the EU and recycling the resources already available  

Recycling  critical  raw  materials  is  key  to  increase  EU  production  capacities.  Yet, 
today, the EU average collection of end-of-life products in the EU is 40%, and less than 
1% of rare earth elements are recycled in the EU (24). In other words, there is a flow of 
permanent magnets scrap and end-of-life products that leaves the EU, remains unused or 
– worse still – ends up in a landfill. With the appropriate feedstock and incentives, EU rare 
earths recyclers such as Carester and Solvay in France or Inspiree in Italy could ramp up 
their activities  to  contribute to  the production of 3 800 tonnes of rare earths permanent 
magnets in the next few years, corresponding to about 20% of today’s demand.  

That is why, by Q2 2026, the Commission will propose restrictions on the export from 
the  EU of  scraps  and  waste  of  permanent  magnets,  on  the  basis  of  a  thorough 
assessment, taking due account of its international obligations and partnerships with third 
countries. In  fact,  the  threat  of  a  supply  shortage  of  rare  earth  element  required  to 
manufacture  permanent  magnets  requires  dedicated  action  to  ensure  access  to  the 
necessary  feedstock,  in  line  with  EU  production  and  expansion  capacities.  This  work 
includes  developing  an  EU-level  subcode  under  the  Combined  Nomenclature  and  the 
European Waste Catalogue to identify and monitor flows of permanent magnets and end-
of-life  products  containing  them.  These  measures  will  have  to  be  accompanied  by 
strengthened  enforcement  by  the  Member  States  against  illicit  flows  at  the  external 
borders.  

With  the  Batteries  Regulation’s  Implementing  Act  on  labelling  ,  the  Commission  will 
ensure  that  battery  raw  materials  can  be  recovered  and  recycled  more  easily.  For 
batteries, recycling also requires access to black mass, which remains a challenge for the 
European industry.  The  Joint Research Centre estimates that the EU could treat  around 
50% to 65% of the black mass it produces, leading to up to 1 million new electric vehicles’ 
battery packs per year. Yet, this capacity remains largely under-utilised and a substantial 

(24)  MC  GOVERN,  L.,  TAPOGLOU,  E.  and  GEORGAKAKI,  A.,  Material  streams  from  wind  energy 
decommissioning  to  2050,  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  Luxembourg,  2025, 
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/0326924, JRC139814. 

9 

 
 
share of Europe’s black mass is still exported to Asia for final recovery. To reduce that 
risk,  as  decided  in  March  2025,  waste  lithium-ion  batteries  and  black  mass  will  be 
classified  as  hazardous  waste  in  September  2026 (25).  This  means  that  exports  to  non-
OECD  countries  will  be  prohibited  after  that  date.  The  Commission  will  work  to 
effectively  implement  this  ban,  with  no  circumvention,  and  will  present,  as  necessary, 
measures to restrict black mass exports even further. This means that projects recycling 
battery raw materials, such as Hydromet in Finland, could access additional black mass to 
carry out their operations. 

In addition, the Commission will propose targeted measures on aluminium scrap in 
Spring  2026,  to  address  global  imbalances  and  maintain  the  competitiveness  of  the 
aluminium  industries  and  deliver  on  the  Steel  and  Metal  Action  Plan.  This  initiative  is 
informed by the findings from the monitoring of scrap flows leaving the EU launched by 
the Commission in July 2025 and will help ensure that European smelters and recyclers 
retain  sufficient  access  to  essential  feedstock.  Following  further  monitoring  activities, 
similar actions will be considered for copper scrap if this proves necessary. 

To  address  the  overall  flow  of  CRMs  waste,  the  Commission  will  enable  efficient 
shipments  of  CRMs  waste  and  secondary  materials  within  the  EU  through  the 
implementation of the Waste Shipment Regulation, including the shift to digital procedures 
and the possible “green-listing” of specific waste streams for recycling in the EU (18). In 
addition, the Commission will close loopholes which are currently leading to the export to 
third countries of copper or aluminium scrap presented fraudulently as products (19). 

3.2. 

Incentivising the recycling of critical raw materials 

The  Commission  is  incentivising  the  recycling  of  products  containing  CRMs.  The 
CRMA  already  introduced  labelling  requirements  for  permanent  magnets  to  improve 
recycling processes. Building on this, the Commission is proposing to amend the CRMA 
to expand the list of products containing permanent magnets for which a label providing 
relevant information for recyclers is required. 

Additional  actions  are also  needed  to  ensure  that  recovered  materials  re-enter  the 
value chain and that secondary raw materials are effectively used in new products. 
The CRMA focuses on post-consumer waste to encourage the development of end-of-life 
collection  and  secondary  markets  within  the  EU.  However,  it  does  not  include  pre-
consumer  waste  in  the  calculation  of  recycled  content,  although  it  is  typically  cleaner, 
easier, and more cost-effective to recycle. Including pre-consumer waste generated during 
manufacturing  would  improve  short-term  resource  efficiency  and  complement  the 
recovery of post-consumer waste, which remains essential to achieving genuine circularity 
and recycling systems. The Commission is therefore proposing today to amend the CRMA 
to  require  a  declaration  of  recycled  content  derived  from  pre-  and  post-consumer 
waste. Based on the information collected, the Commission should also define minimum 
shares  of  CRMs  recovered  from  domestic  pre-  and  post-consumer  waste  to  be  used  in 
permanent magnets incorporated in products. The measure also supports recycling capacity 
within  the  EU,  creating  production  incentives  for  projects  such  as  MagReesource  in 
France. 

Beyond rare earths permanent magnets, additional efforts are required to increase 
recovery  of  CRMs  from  e-waste.  The  revision  of  the  Waste  Electrical  and  Electronic 

(25)  Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2025/934 of 5 March 2025 amending Decision 2000/532/EC as 

regards an update of the list of waste in relation to battery-related waste. 

10 

 
 
Equipment (WEEE) Directive, as part of the Circular Economy Act proposal, will include 
measures to improve the collection of end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment to 
enhance  CRMs  recovery.  It  will  also  propose  to  enhance  the  end-of-life  treatment  of 
electrical  and  electronic  equipment  to  preserve  CRM-rich  components.  Pending  its 
approval  by  co-legislators,  the  revision  of  the  end-of-life  vehicles  Directive  will  also 
enable the recovery of CRMs from automotives. 

Similarly, additional efforts are needed to reduce the critical dependencies on fertilisers in 
Europe,  some  of  which  are  based  on  critical  raw  materials,  through  recycling  and  by 
stimulating the domestic production of fertilisers.  

3.3. 

Stimulating innovation to enable substitution and efficiencies 

The  Commission  is  supporting  Research  and  Innovation  (R&I)  to  improve  CRMs 
extraction, processing and recycling technologies, as well as the substitution of CRMs 
with  innovative  advanced  materials,  advanced  manufacturing  and  alternative  solutions. 
The Commission has already allocated under Horizon Europe EUR 700 million in the past 
five years to support the development of R&I projects on the CRMs value chain, out of 
which twenty contributed to technologies for Strategic Projects under the CRMA such as 
the Barroso, Emili and Keliber lithium projects.  

In order to amplify this potential for substitution and efficiency, the Commission will 
launch dedicated calls under Horizon Europe of EUR 593 million under the 2026-2027 
work programme to support the optimisation of resources’ uses in a circular economy and 
in new production processes.  

The  European  Innovation  Council  (EIC)  will  provide  for  an  additional  EUR  100 
million  blended  finance  support  through  two  EIC  Accelerator  challenges,  one  EUR  50 
million  challenge  on  ‘Boosting  the  European  Critical  Raw  Materials  value  chain’  and 
another  EUR  50  million  challenge  on  ‘Advanced  Materials  for  Renewable  Energy  and 
Energy Storage Systems’. 

The European Defence Fund will also be leveraged to increase the competitiveness and 
innovation  of  the European  defence  technological  and  industrial  base by  supporting 
integration of relevant substitutes to CRMs into defence products and technologies. 

The European Commission will support Member States through the Joint European 
Forum for Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) in deploying 
IPCEIs to promote innovation and first industrial deployment in sourcing, processing and 
recycling of CRMs. The Commission will also support, through the IPCEI Design Support 
Hub, the finalisation of the design of an IPCEI candidate on circular advanced materials. 

In parallel, the Commission will accelerate the development and deployment of substitutes 
of CRMs with advanced materials innovation under the Advanced Materials Act. 

Actions to unleash the circularity and innovation potential in the EU 

By Q2 2026, the Commission will propose  restrictions on the export of rare earth permanent 
magnets scrap. 

By Q2 2026, the Commission will also propose targeted measures for aluminium scrap. Similar 
measures will be considered for copper scrap, following further monitoring. 

11 

 
As  part  of  RESourceEU,  the  Commission  proposes  amending  the  CRMA  to  increase  the 
recyclability of rare earth permanent magnets.  

By Q3 2026, the Commission will propose measures to increase CRM recovery in the Circular 
Economy Act, including from e-waste.   

By  Q2  2026,  the  Commission  will  propose  an  action  plan  to  ensure  the  availability  and 
affordability  of  domestic  fertilisers,  including  actions  to  enable  recycled  nutrients  and  other 
alternatives to fertilisers 

Under  the  2026-2027  work  programme  of  Horizon  Europe,  the  Commission  will  launch 
dedicated calls of EUR 593 million to support the RESourceEU objectives, with an additional 
EUR 100 million blended finance support from the European Innovation Council. 

By Q4 2026, the Commission will propose the Advanced Materials Act.  

4. 

INCREASING  EUROPEAN  DEMAND  FOR  EUROPEAN  PROJECTS  AND  CREATING  A 
LASTING MARKET 

Currently,  price  volatility  and  non-transparent  market  practices  challenge  existing 
production capacities and the future development of more resilient CRMs value chains. 
This contributes to  the limited number of offtake agreements between EU  and partners 
upstream and downstream sectors.  

Public  intervention  is  therefore  necessary  to  diversify  supply  sources  but  also  to  create 
market  mechanisms  and  support  the  operation  of  CRM  projects  over  time,  overcoming 
higher costs, price fluctuations and global market uncertainty. 

4.1.  Enabling  demand  aggregation  and  joint  purchasing  by  European 

industry 

The Commission has developed under the EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform a 
dedicated  Raw  Materials  Mechanism.  It  will  act  as  a  matchmaking  tool  to  connect 
buyers  and  suppliers  of  strategic  raw  materials,  financial  institutions  and  stockpiling 
service providers. It will provide the opportunity for interested buyers to aggregate demand 
and jointly purchase raw materials, and for nascent projects to secure offtake agreements 
in compliance with EU antitrust rules. The mechanism will also improve SMEs’ access to 
strategic  raw  materials  by  reducing  their  search  costs  and  allowing  them  to  reach  the 
critical  size  to  be  eligible  for  large  volumes  sold  by  suppliers.  The  platform  will 
significantly increase the transparency of CRM markets. Furthermore, the platform may 
support  future  de-risking  activities  of  the  CRM  financing  hub.  When  operational,  the 
Centre  will  build  on  the  mechanism’s  activities  to  carry  out  public  joint  purchasing  on 
behalf of public and private bodies.  

The Commission launched the registration to the platform on 18 November 2025 and 
the first matchmaking round will take place in March 2026 (26). This initial round will 
target immediately and soon-to-be-available rare earths, battery and defence raw materials 
value  chains,  benefitting  in  particular  actors  in  small,  non-liquid  markets  such  as  for 

(26)  EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform - Raw Materials Mechanism 

12 

 
 
tungsten or gallium (27). The Raw Materials Mechanism will focus on suppliers from the 
EU,  the  European  Economic  Area,  Overseas  Countries  and  Territories,  and  strategic 
partnership  countries.  Upcoming  rounds  will  focus  on  project  development,  securing 
diversified  supply  of  strategic  raw  materials  for  the  EU  industry,  and  connecting 
participants with storage and stockpiling services.  

This market connection function carried out by the Platform must be complemented by 
mechanisms  to  incentivise  the  conclusion  of  contracts  with  diversified  suppliers.  This 
function will be taken up in the future by the Centre. In view of this, the Commission will 
launch  a  process  with  stakeholders  to  study  the  design,  scope  and  funding  of  a  cost-
effective 
unlock 
investments both into processing  facilities in  Europe and into extracting  critical  minerals 
in Europe and partner countries.  

mechanism 

leveraging 

price 

floor 

for 

to 

a 

4.2. 

Stimulating CRM diversification by the European industry 

The aggregation of supply and demand is a first step toward the making of a resilient and 
diversified CRMs market. Yet, it will not directly reduce the persisting price differential 
that affects EU CRMs projects and contributes to market volatility.  

To  stimulate  further  diversification  of  CRMs  sourcing,  the  Commission  is  also 
proposing  a  targeted  amendment  to  the  CRMA.  In  fact,  committing  the  European 
downstream industrial sectors to supply diversification is required as they can no longer 
fully rely on Chinese exports to meet their demands for CRMs. In practice, large companies 
will need to carry out a risk assessment of their supply chains and adopt, as necessary, 
mitigation  measures,  including  to  diversify  away  from  a  single  source  of  supply.  The 
Commission should have the capacity to incentivise effective diversification measures that 
large companies  should  adopt  in  the event  of significant  vulnerabilities, and, in  case of 
non-action,  make  diversification  mandatory.  This  should  also  contribute  to  stimulate 
demand for projects on the EU value chain and help secure supplies from trusted partner 
countries. In today’s geopolitical context, the long-term benefits of diversification largely 
outweigh the short-term financial costs. They should be duly taken into account by private 
companies as well as financial institutions.  

Furthermore,  the  case  of  the  EU  defence  industry  requires  particular  attention.  Export 
controls  of  CRMs,  with  presumption  of  denial  for  military  end  use,  including 
extraterritorial controls of defence equipment containing CRMs by third countries, 
represent a clear and present threat to the EU’s security and defence. EU institutions and 
Member States, in coordination with NATO, should mobilise every possible lever at their 
disposal to swiftly reduce CRMs dependencies from defence industrial value chains, using 
defence expenditure as a further catalyst for offtake of priority CRMs projects. The 
Commission is exploring incentives for critical raw materials supply diversification in the 
context  of  the  revision  of  the  Public  Procurement (28)  and  Defence  Procurement 
Directives, as well as in the design of the Defence Readiness 2030 Flagship Projects (29). 

(27)  Liquid CRM markets are characterised by a sufficient number of projects on the supply side, so market-
based instruments like auctions can be used to determine a competitive price (e.g., lithium). Non-liquid 
markets comprise only one or very few suppliers (e.g., gallium or germanium). 

(28)  Directive  2014/23/EU  on  Concessions,  Directive  2014/24/EU  on  Public  Procurement,  and  Directive 

2014/25/EU on Utilities 

(29)  Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination 
of  procedures  for  the  award  of  certain  works  contracts,  supply  contracts  and  service  contracts  by 
contracting  authorities  or  entities  in  the  fields  of  defence  and  security,  and  amending  Directives 
2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC. 

13 

 
 
Member States’ contracting authorities are also  encouraged to  enable the contractors to 
source  raw  materials  in  a  secure  way,  e.g.  by  prioritising  projects  based  on  non-price 
criteria, such as diversification, notably when they rely on raw materials refined or recycled 
in EU. 

4.3. 

Supporting stockpiling to increase European industrial resilience 

The Commission and Member States are working to coordinate stockpiles of critical 
raw materials, which  can be an essential tool to limit supply  risks. Presently, many 
companies only purchase CRMs when needed, hampered by limited licencing from China, 
a  lack  of  storage  capacity,  insufficient  financing  options,  and  changing  material 
specifications over long storage periods. This situation results in suboptimal purchasing 
conditions during periods of high prices and low stockpiling levels. There is no structural 
instrument in the EU to manage CRMs stockpiles and ensure proper and fair release across 
the Member States in case of disruptions, while significant strategic efforts have been made 
by third countries such as Japan, the United States and South Korea to ensure their own 
security and economic stability.  

In  July  2025,  the  EU  Stockpiling  strategy  was  adopted,  with  the  aim  of  improving 
interoperability  and  coordination  of  stockpiling  systems  at  EU  and  national  level (30). 
Moreover, the upcoming European Defence  Industry Programme will support activities 
related to accelerating the adjustments to structural changes, including those linked to raw 
materials, their stockpiling and building up reserved surge. 

The Commission and several Member States are collaborating on a pilot project on 
the stockpiling of critical raw materials in order to develop an effective and coordinated 
approach to stockpiling CRMs within the EU. The pilot will become operational in early 
2026,  building  on  Member  States  and  Commission’s  capacities,  and  paying  particular 
attention  to  secondary  raw  materials.  It  will  address  the  logistical  dimensions  of 
stockpiling, such as the conditions behind purchasing, storing and releasing CRMs. The 
pilot will also consider the type of stockpiling that best supports the European industry in 
light  of the financing  tools  available for those operations  and to  ensure  coherence with 
industry’s  efforts.  The  Centre  will  afterwards  integrate  the  activities  of  this  pilot  when 
carrying out stockpiling operations.  

Actions to increase European demand for European projects and create a lasting 
market 

By Q1 2026, the Commission will launch the first round of matchmaking under the EU Energy 
and Raw Materials Platform focusing on the rare earth permanent magnets, battery and defence 
raw materials value chain. 

As part of RESourceEU, the Commission proposes amending the CRMA to stimulate the supply 
chain diversification efforts of large market operators, in order to prevent dependence on single 
sources of supply. 

The Commission is exploring incentives for diversification in the context of the revision of the 
Defence  Procurement  Directive  and  in  the  design  of  the  Defence  Readiness  2030  Flagship 
Projects.  

By Q1 2026, the Commission and Member States will kick-off a first pilot on CRMs stockpiling. 

(30)  COM(2025) 528 final. 

14 

 
 
5.  PROTECTING THE SINGLE MARKET AND THE RESILIENCE OF THE EU CRMS VALUE 

CHAIN 

5.1. 

Strengthening  the  monitoring  of  supply  chains  and  coordinating 
responses to supply disruptions 

In times of crises, the EU’s first responsibility is to protect the Single Market, and the 
Commission  is  ensuring  that  Member  States  work  together  and  not  against  each 
other. This is the main objective of the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act 
(IMERA) (31). As of this Act’s entry into force in May 2026, and based on the intelligence 
gathered when implementing the CRMA, the Commission will use the IMERA toolbox to 
address challenges over the EU value chain. In the event of the activation of the internal 
market  vigilance  or  emergency  modes  under  IMERA,  the  Commission  will  be  able  to 
address  information  requests  on  production  capacities  and  stocks,  supply  chains 
disruptions  or  shortages,  but  also  to  carry  out  joint  purchases,  mandate  priority-rated 
requests and coordinate stockpiling distribution. 

Ahead  of  its  entry  into  force,  the  Commission  already  gathered  Member  States  to 
take stock of supply disruptions and coordinate reactions. This was possible thanks to 
the monitoring of supply chains conducted under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Member 
States and the Commission have begun to stress-test strategic supply chains, and next joint 
exercises will focus on rare earths elements value chains and defence-related critical raw 
materials.  Member  States  are  also  required  to  monitor  key  market  operators  along  the 
CRMs value chain and to notify the Commission if major events may hinder their regular 
operations. It is important to work with trusted partners to assess supply disruptions and 
strengthen preparedness. 

5.2. 

Shielding the EU from hostile interference  

The Commission is working to use the intelligence gathered on potentially harmful 
market practices. Although foreign investors can contribute to the CRMs projects in the 
EU, the EU must ensure such investment brings real added value to the Single Market and 
aligns with our economic security objectives. Given the strategic nature of the CRMs value 
chain, the Commission will integrate the Critical Raw Materials Act’s Strategic Projects 
as  “Projects  or  Programmes  of  Union  Interest”  under  the  Foreign  Direct  Investment 
Regulation, thereby providing increased control over foreign investment on the EU CRMs 
value chain on security grounds. 

The  Horizon  Europe  work  programme  for  2026-2027  will  restrict  participation  of 
Chinese  entities  and  Chinese-controlled  EU-based  entities  in  all  CRMs  research  and 
innovation  actions.  The  Commission  will  work  to  replicate  this  approach  across  other 
funding instruments in the EU and encourages Member States to take similar measures for 
their domestic funding support to CRMs. 

Building  on  their  collective  efforts  to  safeguards  supply  chains  from  unfair  market 
practices,  the  Commission,  G7  countries,  Australia  and  Ukraine  endorsed  the  G7 
for  critical  minerals (32).  The 
Roadmap 

toward  standards-based  markets 

(31)  Regulation  (EU)  2024/2747  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  9  October  2024 
establishing a framework of measures related to an internal market emergency and to the resilience of 
the internal market and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 (Internal Market Emergency 
and Resilience Act)  

(32)  https://g7.canada.ca/en/news-and-media/news/roadmap-to-promote-standards-based-markets-for-

critical-minerals 

15 

 
 
implementation  of  the  Roadmap  will  drive  supply  chain  traceability  and  transparency 
while setting out environmental, social and governance criteria to build reliable and secure 
premium markets for critical minerals. This will enable to leverage demand for premium 
markets  internationally  and  make  responsible  production  the  global  benchmark.  The 
Commission will ensure that supply chain diversification and resilience remain essential 
components of standard-based markets. 

In order to protect the EU’s and Member States' investments in CRMs projects, it will be 
essential  to  ensure  their  viability  cannot  be  disrupted  through  predatory  market 
manipulation and non-market economy practices and policies by incumbent suppliers. In 
close  coordination  with  G7  and  other  partners,  and  in  line  with  the  Economic  Security 
Communication,  the  Commission  intends  to  develop  and  deploy  a  robust  policy 
approach,  including  trade  instruments,  that  ensures  the  EU  can  act  swiftly  and 
decisively  in  case  of  non-market  practices  by  third  countries,  such  as  price 
manipulation, in CRMs value chains (33). In doing so, the Commission will leverage the 
EU’s  key  strengths,  such  as  access  to  its  Single  Market,  to  ensure  short-term  access  to 
CRMs in case of supply chain disruptions by third countries.  

Actions to protect the single market and the resilience of the CRM value chain 

From Q2 2026 and whenever necessary, the Commission will mobilise the IMERA toolbox to 
protect the internal market against supply disruptions on the CRM value chain. 

By  Q2  2026,  the  Commission  will  integrate  CRMA  Strategic  Projects  in  the  Foreign  Direct 
Investment Regulation to increase control over foreign investment in strategic sectors. 

In parallel, the Commission and G7 partners will develop CRM standards-based markets built 
on environmental, social, governance, supply diversification and resilience criteria. 

By  Q2  2026,  the  Commission  will  develop  a  robust  policy  approach,  including  trade 
instruments, to react against non-market practices, such as price distortions, on the CRMs value 
chain. 

6.  PARTNERING WITH THIRD COUNTRIES TO DIVERSIFY  

6.1.  Reinforcing and expanding the EU’s engagement 

To diversify EU CRM supplies, the Commission is pursuing on behalf of the EU and 
in cooperation with Member States a pro-active CRM diplomatic agenda. In addition 
to  free  trade  agreements  and  Clean  Trade  and  Investment  Partnerships,  15  strategic 
partnerships on raw materials have been signed to date with resource-rich countries since 
2021 and the EU is further expanding its network of partnerships with trusted partners 
(34). 

These partnerships aim to benefit both the EU and its partners through local beneficiation. 
The creation of local added value and jobs is essential, including by enabling by enabling 
third countries to reinforce their capacity beyond extraction. Overall, the partnerships seek 

(33)  Insert reference 

(34)  Argentina,  Australia,  Canada,  Chile,  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo,  Greenland,  Kazakhstan, 

Namibia, Norway, Rwanda, Serbia, South Africa, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zambia. 

16 

 
 
 
 
to integrate the value chain of both parties by supporting joint projects and cooperating on 
environment, social and governance (ESG) standards, research and innovation. 

The  latest  Memorandum  of  Understanding  was  concluded  with  South  Africa  on  20 
November  2025.  Its  implementation  should  support  concrete  projects  such  as  the 
Zandkopsdrift Strategic Project to produce rare earths and manganese and the High Purity 
Manganese Sulphate Monohydrate plant of the Manganese Metal Company. In addition, 
the  Commission  launched  bilateral  negotiations  with  Brazil,  a  strategic  partner  with 
important value chains on rare earths, niobium, nickel, graphite, lithium manganese and 
aluminium.  

The Commission will also work to integrate the EU’s CRMs value chain with strategic 
partners, FTA countries, enlargement and neighbourhood countries. For instance, it 
will finance CRMs projects via the Ukraine Investment Framework, which may benefit 
Ukrainian  Strategic  Projects  and  drive  the  implementation  of  the  EU-Ukraine  strategic 
partnership on raw materials. Where applicable it will also provide financial instruments 
via  the  Western  Balkans  Investment  Framework  to  facilitate  the  integration  of  their 
industrial  value  chains  with  the  EU.  Enhanced  cooperation  with  our  Neighbourhood 
countries, in particular in North-Africa, on access to phosphate rock and potash resources, 
and  in  the  Gulf,  will  be  promoted.  The  upcoming  Action  Plan  of  the  Pact  for  the 
Mediterranean  will  contain  a  range  of  investment  projects  that  will  also  offer  mutually 
beneficial opportunities to our Southern Neighbourhood partner countries.  

6.2.  Building on multilateral initiatives to secure diversified supply 

Multilaterally, the EU and G20 partners have welcomed a Critical Minerals Framework, 
a  cooperative  blueprint  to  ensure  that  critical  minerals  drive  sustainable  growth  and 
prosperity,  along  the  whole  value  chain (35).  This  framework  will  contribute,  amongst 
others, to drive the mapping of geological resources, improve ESG standards and increase 
investments on CRM value chain. 

To  collectively  de-risk  CRMs  projects,  the  Commission  supports  the  Critical 
Minerals Production Alliance under the Canadian G7 presidency. The list of projects 
supported and announced during the October 2025 G7 ministerial  is a  first step toward 
coordinated  efforts  to  support  global  CRMs  supply  chain.  Upcoming  iterations  should 
include  additional  projects  located  in  a  diversified  set  of  jurisdictions.  The  Critical 
Minerals  Production  Alliance  and  the  standard-based  markets  G7  Roadmap  echo  the 
actions laid out above on both the supply and the demand sides of the critical raw materials 
value chain. 

Actions on partnering with third countries to diversify supplies 

EU diplomatic and economic tools in Team Europe context will also support the conclusions of 
contracts between EU and third countries companies 

The Commission will launch negotiations on a CRMs partnership with Brazil. 

(35)  https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/11/22/g20-johannesburg-leaders-

declaration/  

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The  Commission  will  enhance  cooperation  with  Southern  Neighbourhood,  notably  with  the 
upcoming Action Plan of the Pact for the Mediterranean. 

The Commission will leverage the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance to de-risk CRMs 
projects in the EU and in partner countries. 

The Commission will follow up on shared commitment and strong push for diversification at 
G20 level, in the framework of the G20 Critical Minerals Framework.  

CONCLUSION 

Although the European Union has set out a clear agenda to secure its supply of critical raw 
materials, the existing high level of dependency is set to be reduced only gradually and 
over the medium term. Given the scale of the challenge, only bold collective and joint EU 
and  Member  States  action  can  support  the  European  industry  in  a  large-scale 
diversification  effort  through  the  mobilisation  of  a  range  of  tools,  competences,  and 
financial capacity for the development of a stable and efficient EU CRMs value chain.  

The RESourceEU Plan sets out a number of actions to strengthen the EU diversification 
policy  with  a  near-term  impact,  with  a  view  to  rapidly  increase  its  resilience  to  supply 
chains disruptions and to signal to markets a new policy direction for the medium term. 
Such  actions  will  be  strengthened  with  the  creation  of  a  Centre  which  will  manage 
dedicated  tools  and  price  support  mechanisms  and  will  have  the  capacity  to  promote 
diversification, project development and the resilience of the EU CRMs value chain. The 
Centre  will  be  backed  up  by  the  financial  firepower  provided  by  the  European 
Competitiveness Fund, proposed as part of the future multiannual financial framework. 

The  diversification  of  critical  raw  materials  supply  must  become  an  EU  top  political 
priority  over  the  coming  years.  To  this  end,  the  Commission  will  intensify  its  efforts, 
mobilising all policy and financial instruments, to broaden the EU CRMs supplier base, 
strengthen  domestic  extraction  and  recycling,  and  reduce  the  current  excessive 
dependencies  for  critical  raw  materials.  The  European  Commission  calls  on  enhanced 
cooperation on critical raw materials with the European Parliament, EU Member States, 
third country partners, industrial stakeholders and civil society. The Commission invites 
the European Council to endorse this Plan. The success of RESourceEU is dependent on 
working together.  

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