The EU has set ambitious energy and climate targets, committing to net-zero emissions by 2050 and producing at least 42.5 % of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. This green transition calls for large-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies like wind turbines, batteries and solar panels. All these technologies require critical raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements; the consumption of these materials is therefore expected to increase dramatically. As a result, ensuring the secure supply of critical materials has become a key objective for the EU’s energy and industrial policy. Demand for critical raw materials can be met through imports, domestic production and more sustainable resource management. Most of the necessary minerals are mined and processed outside the EU, and supply is often concentrated in either one or a handful of non-EU countries.
In recent years, the EU has taken a number of steps to increase the security of supply of critical materials, including the adoption of the Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials and Critical Raw Materials Act. This report examines the results of these efforts, provides input to the policy debates ahead of the 2030 milestone, and contributes to the ongoing implementation of the Act at member state and Commission levels. The aim is to assess whether EU-level actions ensure a long-term secure supply of critical raw materials for the EU’s energy transition.
To ensure the secure supply of critical raw materials, the EU aims to diversify imports, increase domestic production, and manage resources more sustainably, but finds it difficult to overcome challenges in reaching these objectives. While the Critical Raw Materials Act sets a strategic course, its targets lack justification and underlying data is not robust. Efforts to diversify imports have yet to produce tangible results and bottlenecks hamper progress in domestic production and recycling. While strategic projects can benefit from faster permitting and more visibility, many projects will struggle to secure supply for the EU by 2030.
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