The European Union announced support for 46 new strategic projects to expand domestic supplies of critical raw materials. It is committing €21 billion in funding. The initiative aims to reduce the bloc’s reliance on China for materials including lithium, gallium and rare earths, which are vital to the automotive, defense and renewable energy industries.
EU Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said the bloc is “pulling out all the stops” to prepare for potential trade tensions and build a resilient European value chain. The announcement comes as EU officials are in Beijing for talks on what they describe as an “unsustainable” trade surplus with China.
The projects will receive accelerated permitting and financial backing to help the EU meet its production and sourcing targets by 2030. They aim to spur new mines and processing factories across the bloc, de-risk supply chains for the green and digital transitions, and influence long-term global material flows and sector investment.