The European Commission will launch public consultations on the preparation of an EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM) on Friday 30 September, with a view to presenting an initiative in the first quarter of 2023, Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton said at a press conference on Thursday 29 September at the end of the Competitiveness Council.
“I want to emphasise that we have entered the active phase. We hope to present this proposal in the first quarter of 2023 and public consultations will start tomorrow”, announced the Commissioner, referring in particular to the joint document presented by Germany and France on the CRM, “which is perfectly in line with the European Commission’s logic” (see EUROPE 13021/5).
This joint document, which we announced on 22 September (see EUROPE 13026/23), remains brief (one page per language). Both Member States are calling for raw materials legislation based on three pillars: - a first pillar to strengthen crisis management of critical raw material supplies (a questionable point, given the risks of duplication with the Single Market Emergency Instrument - see other news); - a second pillar to verify and evaluate existing financing instruments to support the necessary investments in raw materials and critical metals production projects inside and outside the EU; - a third pillar to ensure a sustainable market framework based on fair trade.
Mine openings in the EU
The issue of recycling capacity, refineries and mining will undoubtedly be at the heart of the European Commission’s reflection and preparation. However, some Member States are already taking a stand, starting with France and Germany.
Interviewed by EUROPE ahead of the Council, German State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Sven Giegold, returned to the issue of opening up mines on EU territory, which he supports. “First of all, mining has always taken place in Europe, we will also need mining in the future, we cannot say that we want to live in a welfare environment and at the same time say that mining is always elsewhere”, he said.
Before putting serious safeguards in place: “Regardless of where mining takes place, it must be done in a sustainable way with the participation of local citizens”. For him, the priority must be on recycling and “intelligent design” of products, with reference to the Regulation on the subject, discussed the same day at the Competitiveness Council (see other news).
His French counterpart, the Minister for Industry, Roland Lescure, made the same point. “On raw materials and metals, there is no reason why we should be deprived of extracting metals in Europe, provided that this extraction is extremely responsible, and France will be sensitive to this”, he replied to EUROPE.
Recently, the Commissioner for the Internal Market published a blog post arguing for the removal of this taboo on mining in Europe (see EUROPE 12970/9). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)