Critical Raw Materials Act
The Platform's position introduced by Emilia Valbum
Why does Europe need a Critical Raw Materials Act?
Emilia: It is true that some Raw Materials exists in Europe, but we still remains way too dependent on third countries for mining, processing, refining and recycling. Those processes are very much done in resource-rich third countries, which more experienced and more competitive. This is endangering both Europe’s autonomy in CRMs but also the respect of our environmental standards.
And the current geopolitical events and supply chain tensions increase this dependency. But also create volatility, higher prices and uncertainties over global supply. This is why we welcomed on principle Commission’s Act.
Three clear flaws for Europe on CRMs
Emilia: We urgently need to ramp up a domestic Electric Vehicle value chain if we want to reach our climate goals. On this path, we identified three obstacles:
First, Europe should look beyond battery manufacturing to ensure access to resources themselves, and create capacity to refine, process, and recycle those resources.
The second flaw is the excessive hurdles to the permitting that can become counterproductive to defend social and environmental protection. And third obstacle is Europe’s incomplete and limited mapping of geological and remining potentials.
What are the solutions?
Emilia: At the Platform we identified twelve areas where we think the Act should change things up. I won’t cover them all now but a large part of the solution is to remove barriers to the reuse and repurposing of EV parts, which could extend the lifespan of critical raw materials prior to recycling, thereby reducing the overall demand for CRMs. I invite everyone interested to have a close look at our details recommendations.