circular economy,  energie rinnovabili

Critical raw minerals and EU committee of Regions

Agosto 2, 2023 /

The Council of the European Union published on 27 July 2023 the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on the critical raw materials act. About the trade, the European Committee of the Regions underlined that:

  • “…To take account of possible technological and economic changes, the Commission should, in continuation of current practice, periodically perform an assessment based on data for production, trade, applications, recycling, sustainability and substitution for a wide range of raw materials to update the lists of critical and strategic raw materials reflecting the evolution in the economic importance and supply risk associated with those raw materials…”;
  • “…The EU Supply Chain Act should also include the financial sector in this framework, as influence on commodity traders, exchanges and off-exchange metal trading venues can only be exerted if sustainability standards and human rights and environmental due diligence requirements are met in supply chains in a way that is consistent, competitive and low in red tape…”;
  • “…contribute to the Union’s climate and environmental objectives by facilitating the procurement of critical raw materials with lower environmental footprint and would not disproportionately affect trade flows….”;
  • “…(i) all relevant stakeholders, such as industry including downstream industry, SMEs and, where relevant, the craft industry, local and regional authorities, social partners, traders, retailers, importers, environmental protection groups and consumer organisations; …”.