The European Commission has adopted its RESourceEU Action Plan – a package of policy and financing measures aimed at reducing the bloc’s dependence on external suppliers of critical raw materials and fast-tracking domestic and partner-country projects.

The plan builds on the recently enacted Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and seeks to shield European industry from geopolitical shocks while boosting competitiveness across key value chains, including electric vehicles, defence, industrial motors, aerospace, AI chips, and data centres.

At the heart of the plan is a push to accelerate project permitting, mobilise up to €3-billion over the next 12 months for strategic supply initiatives, and create a new institutional architecture to coordinate supply chain resilience across the EU.

From early 2026, the Commission will establish a European Critical Raw Materials Centre to provide market intelligence, manage strategic project portfolios, and coordinate financing with public and private partners. The centre will also support joint purchasing and stockpiling – tools the Commission views as essential to protecting the Single Market from price spikes and geopolitical interference.

A Raw Materials Platform will aggregate industrial demand, facilitate collective procurement of strategic materials, and help secure offtake agreements. Work is also under way on an EU-wide approach to stockpiling, with a pilot system expected to be operational in early 2026.

To boost recycling capacity, the Commission will introduce export restrictions on permanent-magnet scrap and waste from early 2026, with similar actions for aluminium – and possibly copper – to follow. Amendments to the CRMA will expand labelling requirements and incentivise the use of recycled pre-consumer waste in permanent magnets.

The plan also foresees actions to reduce dependence on fertilisers made from critical minerals, with an EU fertiliser and nutrient-recycling plan due by mid-2026. 

A key part of RESourceEU is the acceleration of EU-relevant projects through de-risking tools, streamlined permitting and regulatory reform. The Commission says the measures could reduce strategic dependencies by up to 50% by 2029.

Up to €3-billion will be mobilised over the next year for projects that can deliver alternative supply in the short term. Support has already begun flowing to priority initiatives, including Vulcan Energy’s lithium-extraction project in Germany and Greenland Resources’ Malmbjerg molybdenum project.

European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela said the Malmbjerg project would help to develop a fully European supply chain and support industrial development in Greenland. "This project can meet all of Europe’s defence needs for molybdenum and around a quarter of our total demand. With processing taking place inside the EU and long-term offtake agreements secured with European companies, it will create a fully European value chain and significantly reinforce our strategic autonomy.”

To diversify supply chains and strengthen industrial cooperation, the EU will intensify engagement with its 15 existing strategic raw material partners, with South Africa the most recent addition. Negotiations will soon begin with Brazil, while dedicated investment frameworks are being advanced with Ukraine, the Western Balkans and the Southern Neighbourhood.

Under its Global Gateway initiative, the EU will pursue co-investment in projects across emerging markets. Brussels is also backing wider international coordination through the Canada-led G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance and the G20 Critical Minerals Framework.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen originally announced the RESourceEU concept at the Berlin Global Dialogue in 2024, framing it as essential to safeguarding Europe’s industrial base amid the “weaponisation” of critical raw materials by dominant suppliers.

'CLEAR SIGNAL'
The mining and processing sector has broadly welcomed the plan, with industry leaders saying the focus on early-stage financing, permitting reform and supply-chain diversification is long overdue.

Toronto-listed Rock Tech Lithium CEO Mirco Wojnarowicz said the package is “a clear signal from Brussels: Europe wants control over its raw materials supply back – and now.” 

“Particularly important is that the Commission recognises lithium for what it is: a strategic critical raw material, not only for e-mobility, but equally for large-scale battery storage and data centres as well as the defence industry,” he said.

Wojnarowicz said RESourceEU provides tailwinds for Rock Tech’s Guben lithium converter in Germany – recognised as a strategic project under the CRMA – noting that permits are in place, offtakers are lined up and cost-structure revisions have strengthened the project’s path to a final investment decision.

“Europe now needs projects that deliver impact in the short term – and that is exactly what we can do. The ResourceEU Plan brings together financing, coordination and political will with unprecedented clarity for the first time. What is crucial now is that the next step follows. We stand ready to build lithium value creation in Europe and thereby make an important contribution to strategic sovereignty,” he said.

Rock Tech’s Guben Converter, in Brandenburg, is slated to be Europe’s first commercial lithium-hydroxide refinery. The facility will produce 24 000 t/y of battery-grade lithium hydroxide using spodumene concentrate sourced through trading partner C&D Logistics.