Commission communication on the 2017 list of Critical Raw Materials
The Raw Materials Initiative was put forward in 2008 to tackle the challenges related to the access to raw materials. This Communication updates the 2014 list of critical raw materials. The primary purpose of the list is to identify the raw materials with a high supply-risk and a high economic importance to which reliable and unhindered access is a concern for European industry and value chains.
Following an objective methodology the list provides a factual tool for trade, innovation and industrial policy measures to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry in line with the renewed industrial strategy for Europe, for instance by:
identifying investment needs which can help alleviate Europe's reliance on imports of raw materials;
guiding support to innovation on raw materials supply under the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme;
drawing attention to the importance of critical raw materials for the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular economy.
The list should help incentivise the European production of critical raw materials through enhancing recycling activities and when necessary to facilitate the launching of new mining activities. It also allows to better understand how the security of supply of raw materials can be achieved through supply diversification, from different geographical sources via extraction, recycling or substitution.
The list is used by the Commission as a supporting element when negotiating trade agreements, challenging trade-distortive measures, developing research and innovation actions and implementing the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.
The new list features 27 raw materials: Antimony, Beryllium, Borates, Cobalt, Coking Coal, Fluorspar, Gallium, Germanium, Indium, Magnesium, Natural Graphite, Niobium, Phosphate Rock, Silicon Metal, Tungsten, Platinum Group Metals, Light Rare Earths and Heavy Rare Earths, Baryte, Bismuth, Hafnium, Helium, Natural Rubber, Phosphorus, Scandium, Tantalum, and Vanadium.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 641864