The European Commission has come up with an Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials. The plan aims to develop resilient value chains for EU industrial ecosystems; reduce dependency on primary critical raw materials through circular use of re-sources, sustainable products and innovation; strengthen domestic sourcing of raw materials in the EU; diversify sourcing from third countries and remove distortions to international trade, fully respecting the EU’s international obligations.

To achieve these objectives, the Commission outlines 10 concrete actions. First, it plans to establish a European Raw Materials Alliance to focus on the most pressing needs, increase EU resilience in the rare earth and magnet value chains. The Commission plans to collaborate with member states and regions to identify mining and processing projects that can be operational by 2025. Its special focus will be on coal-mining regions and other regions in transition, with special attention to expertise and skills relevant for mining, extraction and processing of raw materials.

The plans is to promote the use of earth-observation program Copernicus to improve resource exploration, operations and post-closure environmental management. It will also develop sustainable financing criteria for the mining and extractive sectors by the end of 2021. It will map the potential of secondary critical raw materials from EU stocks and wastes to identify viable recovery projects by 2022.

The Commission will develop strategic international partnerships to secure the supply of critical raw materials not found in Europe. Pilot partnerships with Canada, interested countries in Africa and the EU’s neighborhood will start as of 2021. In these and other factors of international cooperation, the Commission will promote sustainable and responsible mining practices and transparency.