On Wednesday 4 June, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Stéphane Séjourné unveiled a list of 13 strategic projects for extracting or processing critical raw materials in third countries or overseas territories (New Caledonia and Greenland). These are in addition to the 47 projects already selected within the EU (see EUROPE 13607/1).
The European Commission is giving pride of place to its partners, including Canada, Kazakhstan, Norway, Greenland, Serbia, Zambia and Ukraine. These are all countries with which the EU has signed memoranda of understanding on raw materials in recent years.
Projects have also been selected in the UK, Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi and South Africa.
The Serbian lithium mining site ‘Jadar’, which has faced strong opposition in the country, is one of the winners. It was abandoned by Belgrade in 2022, then put back on track by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic last year.
Regarding other projects, graphite features prominently in the selection, with no fewer than four mining sites out of the 13 projects.
Generally speaking, the raw materials chosen are used to produce batteries for electric vehicles (lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese).
Two rare earth mining projects will also provide the EU with supplies for the manufacture of wind turbines, electric motors and other renewable energy technologies.
Thanks to their ‘strategic’ status, the 13 projects will benefit from easier access to both public and private funding.
“It’s in our common interest to support an increase in critical mineral mining, refining and manufacturing projects in the UK and the EU. No single country can do this by themselves”, said Britain’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, who was in Brussels for the announcement of the 13 projects.
Ukrainian Minister for Natural Resources Svitlana Hrynchuk, who was present alongside Stéphane Séjourné, was delighted that her country was taking part in this effort: “I hope that this is just a first example for other Ukrainian companies [to follow]”.
See the list of projects: https://aeur.eu/f/h6k (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)