European Commission Establishes Raw Materials Alliance
The European Raw Materials Alliance has been established in recognition of the critical importance of raw materials to the European Union’s security, sustainability, and industrial leadership.
The European Commission, represented by Maroš Šefčovič, vice president, and Thierry Breton, commissioner for Internal Market, recently launched the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), with the presence of other European Union (EU) institutions, national ministers, industry, unions, and civil society organizations, as well as key industry stakeholders. The alliance has been established in recognition of the critical importance of raw materials to the EU’s security, sustainability, and industrial leadership. If Europe is to deliver a Green Deal and a digital transition, and remain a leader in future technologies, it faces a significant increase in demand for critical raw materials.
The European Commission reports that ERMA will identify barriers, opportunities, and investment cases to build capacity at all stages of the raw materials value chain, from mining to waste recovery. In a first phase, the alliance is focusing on the most pressing need, which is to increase EU resilience in the rare earths and permanent magnets value chains, as these are vital to most EU industrial ecosystems. In addition to rapidly rising demand driven by electric vehicles and energy storage, demand for rare earths critical for products like wind turbines could increase tenfold by 2050. Later, ERMA will expand to address other critical and strategic raw material and base metal needs, such as materials for energy storage and conversion.