On Monday 21 June, the European Commission announced the establishment of the first-ever partnership on raw materials between the European Union and Canada.
This is the first such agreement under the September 2020 Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials (see EUROPE 12552/1). This agreement was sealed at the highest political level at the EU-Canada Summit (see EUROPE 12741/4). The partnership focuses on raw materials for magnets and batteries, such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and manganese.
“Canada was a natural choice to setup the first partnership on raw materials. Canada is a like-minded resource-rich country, shares important environmental, social and governance values with the EU and we have CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), which offered the framework to advance”, said the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
Further such agreements are expected in line with the renewed diversification strategy under the industrial strategy (see EUROPE 12713/6), notably with Ukraine, which is currently being finalised. The Commission will sign a Memorandum of Understanding setting out the policy framework and approve a Partnership Roadmap in July. The institution is also working on a partnership with Serbia and several African countries. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)