The EU is heavily dependent on imports of raw materials and is failing to catch up with investments globally. At the same time, the recent energy crisis has highlighted the need to avoid new dependencies on critical raw materials. The future CRM centre, supported by robust industrial policy and building on work in Member States, must provide real financial power to deliver on raw materials projects and secure resilient, sustainable supply chains for Europe.
Despite numerous attempts and good intentions, the EU’s efforts so far to secure access to Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and deliver progress on the ground have had mixed results. If done right, the CRM centre can change that. What is needed is a whole-of-government approach, an independent mandate and pooled financial resources, as well as the tools to be able to deploy this money effectively. Australia, Canada, Japan and the US are all doing this already. It’s time for the EU to catch-up.
This is why the CRM Centre should go a lot further than mere coordination and stockpiling. It should become the financial arm of a sustainable European mineral diplomacy, steer and support national investments, coordinate the work of development banks and export credit agencies and aggregate offtake. This requires a proper budget that should come primarily from the European Competitiveness Fund and the Global Europe Instrument.