The Commission selects 46 new strategic projects to strengthen the EU’s supply of critical raw materials

To strengthen the EU’s supply chains and diversify sources of critical raw materials, the European Commission has today announced that it has selected 46 new strategic projects across 16 Member States. The projects will contribute to meeting the benchmarks set out in the Critical Raw Materials Regulation, according to which, by 2030, the EU’s capacity must meet at least 10 per cent of the EU’s annual consumption for the extraction of, 40 per cent for the processing and 25 per cent for the recycling of strategic raw materials, with a view to improving competitiveness, building greater resilience and reducing dependence on a single supplier.

The new strategic projects are located in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. They were selected from among the 102 applications received in response to the call for proposals, which closed earlier this year.

The projects cover different stages of the raw materials value chain: eight relate to extraction, eleven to processing and nineteen to recycling projects. In addition, there are eight integrated projects: three combining extraction and processing, and five combining processing and recycling, supporting the EU’s integrated approach to the value chain. The strategic projects cover fourteen of the seventeen strategic raw materials listed in the Critical Raw Materials Regulation.

The projects will strengthen European value chains in the battery, defence and aerospace sectors, as well as in the permanent magnet sector. These include seven projects on lithium, twelve on nickel, ten on cobalt, five on manganese and four on graphite, all of which are intended to support the EU’s battery value chain. Two projects on magnesium and three on tungsten will contribute to the defence and aerospace sectors, whilst the four projects on rare earths will support the permanent magnet value chain.

The 46 projects — together with the 47 EU strategic projects and the 13 strategic projects in third countries selected in March and June last year, respectively—are expected to make a significant contribution to achieving the EU’s objectives of risk reduction and diversification of critical raw materials. These projects could meet all the extraction targets for lithium, nickel, rare earths, magnesium and tungsten, as well as the processing benchmarks for lithium and rare earths. They could also cover 89 per cent of the processing benchmark for cobalt and 57 per cent and 51 per cent for tungsten and magnesium, respectively, whilst fully meeting the recycling benchmarks for lithium, cobalt and rare earths.

Progress regarding the first list of strategic projects

The strategic projects selected in 2025 are already moving towards implementation. To date, 25 strategic projects have completed their environmental impact assessments and 17 have obtained a building permit, thanks to the Member States’ one-stop shops, which help to speed up the licensing process.

With the RESourceEU Communication published last December, the EU is accelerating and scaling up its efforts. Since the launch of RESourceEU, Team Europe has mobilised over 2,000 million euros in financial support, committed through the Innovation Fund, state aid and the European Investment Bank. Several projects have made significant progress in securing purchase agreements. Furthermore, the Raw Materials Facility, established to match supply and demand and identify potential buyers, has generated more than 30 matches for 10 materials.

Background

The Critical Raw Materials Regulation entered into force on 23 May 2024. It sets out measures to strengthen the EU’s capacity across the value chains of critical raw materials and to diversify its sources of supply. The Commission launched two calls for proposals for strategic projects. The deadline for the first call was 22 August 2024, and for the second, 15 January 2026.

For this second call, the Commission received 102 project applications from 18 EU Member States. Of these, the Commission and external experts assessed 92 applications in accordance with the criteria set out in the Critical Raw Materials Regulation, such as security of supply, technical feasibility, environmental, social and governance standards, and cross-border benefits for the EU. The Commission also consulted the Critical Raw Materials Committee, comprising the Member States and the European Parliament as an observer.

The Commission will shortly announce a new call for applications for strategic projects, currently scheduled for late 2026.

 

More information: European Commission