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Mineral raw materials are the backbone of a sustainable economy. From Clean Tech to Industrial Strategy, from automotive and green energy to defence sector – it matters whether EU has a stable, uninterrupted, and foreseeable supply of raw materials. Our security, human and societal development, rely on access to these materials.

Geopolitical shifts and global fragmentation addressing the sustainability transition undermine our raw materials base and eventually our security. Critical Raw Materials Act brought a lot of attention to the fact that intentions behind environmental legislation require balancing between capacity to act on a global scale, with securing the Strategic Autonomy at home.

Security is coming at the forefront of the public opinion in the EU. In a new global reality this pertains not only to defence but our well-being in its entirety: health, prosperity, economic progress, future-proof innovation, and safety. Value chains all depend on access to critical, strategic or essential raw materials.

Within just a few decades EU and US has lost global dominance in sourcing the raw materials. Today, neither EU nor US can rely on domestic extraction or processing to fill the demand of its manufacturing. Even worse, almost as if suddenly, EU must find a way to challenge a dominant and political leadership of China in securing long-term partnership agreements with third countries. Luckily, the EU is awakening to this new reality – recently adopted Critical Raw Materials Act, with its 10 percent of the EU's annual consumption from EU extraction target, sets a trajectory to catch up with demand and achieve resilience.

Recently adopted Critical Raw Materials Act, with its 10 percent of the EU's annual consumption from EU extraction target, sets a trajectory to catch up with demand and achieve resilience.

The proposed panel discussion should venture into a policy making scenarios:
- Does EU need a mandate for Industrial policy?
- Security is the predominant factor in US industry policy – how can the EU emulate this model?
- From fancy lithium to modest salt – our security and well-being depend on many raw materials – which elements do we need to avoid a coherent policy that ensures the access to all of them?
- Which elements an omnibus-legislation would need to tackle to ensure that the Deal-side of the Green-Deal is upheld for industrial transformation?

Organised by: Euromines
Media Partner: Euractiv