EU critical raw materials act: the next steps of the EU green transition
The critical raw materials act announced on 16.03.2023 by the EU Commission is a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. The need of the EU is to mitigate the risks for supply chains related to such strategic dependencies to enhance its economic resilience; indeed, this can put at risk the EU’s efforts to meet its climate and digital objectives.
This act:
- lists the critical raw materials( based on the final report “ Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023”) and set up the following objectives:
- diversify the EU supply at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction,
- diversify the EU supply at least 40% of the EU’s annual consumption for processing,
- diversify the supply at least 15% of the EU’s annual consumption for recycling,
- diversify not more than 65% of the Union’s annual consumption of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing from a single third country.
- provides for the monitoring of critical raw materials supply chains, and the coordination of strategic raw materials stocks among Member States. Certain large companies will have to perform an audit of their strategic raw materials supply chains, comprising a company-level stress test; to help the companies, maybe, it is possible to consider the monitoring obligation required by the AEO;
- the European develop a robust circular economy.
At the moment, the critical raw materials act is made up of:
- COM(2023) 160 – Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials;
- COM(2023) 160 ANNEX 1 to 6 – Annexes to the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials;
- COM(2023) 160 ANNEX 1 to 6 – Annexes to the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials;
- SWD(2023) 161 – Impact assessment accompanying the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials;
SWD(2023) 162 – Executive summary of the impact assessment accompanying the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials