EU's Strategic Raw Materials Act Faces Hurdles in Metals Diversification

The European Court of Auditors criticized the EU’s efforts to diversify its critical materials imports as ineffective. The EU's Critical Raw Materials Act aims to boost local production but faces challenges like low recycling rates and insufficient processing capacities. Strategic partnerships have not shown significant results, raising competitiveness concerns.

The European Court of Auditors has raised concerns over the European Union's efforts to diversify its imports of crucial metals and minerals. The initiative, deemed critical for sectors such as technology, defense, and energy transition, is yet to yield substantial results.

The ambition of the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act is clear: by 2030, the EU aims to extract 10% of these minerals locally, enhance recycling capacity to 15%, and process 40% of the needed materials. Despite these targets, the outlook appears bleak, with minimal progress in recycling and processing due to high energy costs and insufficient incentives.

Furthermore, strategic partnerships with third countries have not delivered the expected benefits, leading to a decline in imports of raw materials from these nations. The EU's proposed RESourceEU plan seeks to address these challenges, with discussions on competitiveness set to occur among EU ministers in Cyprus this week.

(With inputs from agencies.)