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Critical raw materials

Summary

  • Raw materials are essential for Europe’s economy, industry, and everyday products, including clean and digital technologies.
  • Critical raw materials are particularly important to the EU and face a high risk of supply disruption.
  • The EU is working to secure sustainable, resilient, and diversified supplies through domestic capacity, recycling, and international partnerships.

What are raw materials?

Raw material

any natural resource used in production

Strategic raw material

a commodity essential for the EU’s economic and security interests

Critical raw material

a strategic material whose supply is at high risk of disruption

Why are they important?

Metals, minerals, and natural materials are the building blocks of many products we use every day, from smartphones and cars to buildings and fertilisers. They are also essential for the technologies driving Europe’s green and digital transitions, such as batteries, wind turbines, solar panels and semiconductors, as well as for defence and space.

Critical raw materials are vital for the EU economy, but their supply is at high risk. For many critical raw materials, the EU relies on just one or a few countries. Trade restrictions, conflicts or natural disasters can quickly cut off supply.

Did you know?

  • The EU updates its list of critical raw materials at least every 3 years

    The current list includes 34 critical raw materials. 17 of them are also strategic raw materials, important for clean, digital, defence and space technologies.

Why do we need them?

Demand for raw materials is growing fast in Europe and worldwide. Secure access to them is key for

Where do they come from?

    • Lithium, cobalt and nickel are key parts of the batteries in electric cars, smartphones and power banks. 73% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • 77% of the EU’s gallium comes from China, it is used in solar panels and computer chips
    • 98% of the EU’s borate comes from Türkiye, boron is used to make the strong magnets inside wind turbines
    • 97% of the EU’s magnesium comes from China, it makes metals lighter and stronger. It is used in cars, aircraft and laptops

Securing a sustainable supply of raw materials

The EU is sourcing, processing, and recycling more critical raw materials in Europe. At the same time, it is working with partners worldwide to make its supply chains more secure. This is key to reaching its climate and digital objectives.

Strengthening the EU’s critical raw materials framework

  • European Critical Raw Materials Act

    The European critical raw materials act entered into force in May 2024. It helps ensure that European industry has a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. It also aims to reduce the EU’s dependency on single-country suppliers.

2030 EU targets for strategic raw materials

  • 10%
    of the EU's annual needs for extraction
  • 40%
    for processing
  • 25%
    for recycling
  • max 65%
    of the EU’s annual consumption from a single third country

Strengthening international cooperation

The EU works with partners around the world, at bilateral, regional and multilateral level to diversify its supply.

  • Strategic partnerships

    The EU has signed strategic partnerships on raw materials with 16 countries, including Canada, Chile, Norway and Ukraine. It also cooperates with other countries and regions, such as Japan, Brazil and the African Union.

    International trade is essential to supporting global production and ensuring diversification of supply. The EU is:

    • strengthening international cooperation through mutually beneficial partnerships and sustainable investment in emerging markets and developing economies
    • bringing together like-minded countries to strengthen global supply chains
    • combating unfair trade practices

    The EU is working to further develop strategic partnerships and work with reliable partners to promote their own economic development in a sustainable manner through value chain creation in their countries, while also promoting secure, resilient, affordable and sufficiently diversified value chains for the EU.

Building EU capacities with strategic projects

Critical raw materials strategic projects make a significant contribution to the EU's security of supply of strategic raw materials, which are especially important for clean, digital, defence, and space technologies.

  • 46 new strategic projects to bolster the EU's supply of critical raw materials

    In October 2026, the Commission selected new projects that will strengthen European value chains in batteries, defence and aerospace, and permanent magnets. They include projects on lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite, all of which support the EU battery value chain. The projects on magnesium and tungsten will contribute to defence and aerospace, while the projects on rare earth elements will support the permanent magnet value chain.

Promoting a more sustainable and circular critical raw materials economy

Recycling has great potential to improve Europe's resource efficiency, even though it cannot meet EU industry's entire demand for raw materials. 

The EU requires Member States to

  • step up efforts to recover critical raw materials from waste products and mining waste
  • increase the share of recycled critical raw materials in manufacturing
  • improve the recyclability of rare earth permanent magnets

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