On Monday 26 June, Germany’s Minister for Economy, Robert Habeck, his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, and Italy’s Minister for Enterprise, Adolfo Urso, met to discuss the issue of critical raw materials within the EU. They announced their intention to work together on this issue, in the words of Mr Habeck, as “the three largest economies in the EU”. They also want to coordinate their proposals for amendments to the act on critical raw materials (see EUROPE 13143/2).
The three ministers have announced the creation of a working group on raw materials, focussing on their circularity. Experts from the three administrations will be responsible for gathering data on addiction and sharing the criteria that was used to support projects.
The issue of financial support for projects involving the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials was also discussed at the trilateral meeting: the ministers are convinced of the need to support project developers. They noted the existence of dedicated funds in France and Italy and the future introduction of a similar programme in Germany.
Finally, the three Member States want to work together to propose amendments to the act on critical raw materials, which is currently under discussion in the Council of the EU. They have already suggested: - setting extraction, processing and recycling targets for each strategic raw material; - further promoting the reuse and recycling of these materials; - extending the list of strategic and critical raw materials “to include aluminium”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)