The EU’s Quest for Strategic Raw Materials: What Role for Mining and Recycling?

Righetti, Edoardo; Rizos, Vasileios

doi:10.2478/ie-2023-0015

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, the main obstacles to cleantech investment in the EU are skills and access to funding [121], and the prolonged lead times for CRM extraction projects are primarily attributed to the exploration and project preparation phase, which falls under the responsibility of mining companies [120]. Moreover, fast-track permit processes, along with other features of the two proposed regulations (such as the lack of limits to the EU consumption of CRMs and the definition of net-zero technologies only based on their GHG emissions, without any consideration for their further environmental impacts), risk weakening social and environmental safeguards [124][125][126]. The idea that improved self-sufficiency could come at the expense of environmental/social protection blows beyond EU industrial policy, affecting, e.g., the recent Commission proposal on new genomic techniques (NGTs) [78].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition

Paleari

2024

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The European Green Deal (EGD) is the cornerstone of a strategic package (EGD Strategic Framework; EGDSF), which aims to make the EU a climate-neutral and competitive economy by 2050. The green transition planned by the EGD has been affected by relevant external shocks, which have highlighted Europe’s vulnerabilities in key strategic sectors. In this context, EU strategic autonomy (SA) has increasingly become a recurring element of the EGDSF. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the role of SA within the EGDSF and investigate whether it supports the EGD’s environmental ambitions. Based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of the EGDSF, it examines the specific purposes that, via SA, the EU wants to achieve and provides a categorisation of the related implementation measures. It emerges that SA objectives embedded into the EGDSF have been shaped in support of EGD goals but that some trade-offs may arise depending on the implementation measures selected to meet the former. In particular, current measures that promote self-sufficiency and the extension of environmental requirements to foreign businesses/products accessing the EU market raise some environmental, economic, and social concerns, which can be partly addressed through a stronger and more comprehensive EGD external dimension.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition

Paleari

2024

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Implementing circular economy (CE) approaches for batteries such as recycling and/or reuse in secondary applications holds the potential to deliver benefits in terms of alleviating environmental pressures from battery production [10,11]. Recovering materials from EoL batteries can also support the domestic supply of critical raw materials for the green and digital transition, which has recently become a flagship priority for the EU [12]. Even though there is an expanding literature on the CE [13,14], only a few studies explore barriers to implementing such approaches in the battery sector [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Barriers to the Implementation of Circularity Processes for Batteries

Rizos,

Urban

2023

RawMat 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Looking for Resource Sovereignty in a Fragmenting Global Order: The EU’s Response to Critical Raw Materials Challenges

Vlaskamp

2024

The European Union in International Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This chapter examines the European Union's (EU) evolving concerns and strategies regarding critical raw materials (CRMs), which are essential for the renewable energy and digital transitions. The COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions with Russia and China have made the EU aware of the fragility of some of their supply chains. Initially seen mainly as an economic issue, the secure supply of CRMs is now perceived as a geopolitical concern crucial for strategic autonomy. This shift led to the 2024 Critical Raw Materials Act, which includes domestic and external measures such as bilateral agreements with resource exporters and strategic partnerships with politically like-minded countries. These policies were supported by almost all Member States, EU institutions, and groups in the European Parliament. Overall, this case illustrates a move of the EU from unequivocally advocating global free trade to a more protective approach to secure the raw materials vital for Europe's political and economic ambitions.

show abstract

The EU’s Quest for Strategic Raw Materials: What Role for Mining and Recycling?

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition

The Role of Strategic Autonomy in the EU Green Transition

Exploring Barriers to the Implementation of Circularity Processes for Batteries

Looking for Resource Sovereignty in a Fragmenting Global Order: The EU’s Response to Critical Raw Materials Challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About