On 23 May, the Committee on International Trade (INTA) published its opinion on the implementation of the updated New Industrial Strategy for Europe. The opinion by MEP Angelika Winzig (EPP, Austria) was adopted on 16 May with 37 votes in favour, zero against and five abstentions.
The opinion includes the following key suggestions relevant for the critical raw materials (CRMs) industry:
Developing a strategy on CRMs to identify and monitor key supply chain dependencies.
Promoting inward and outward investment, trade and access to non-EU markets through an ambitious strategic autonomy plan while reducing dependencies on non-EU countries.
Ensuring optimal use of internal EU production, bolstering an EU and global circular economy, diversifying its supply chains, friend-shoring, near-shoring or re-shoring where relevant, guaranteeing its independence from any single producer, especially concerning CRMs and intermediate products and materials.
Securing and scaling-up access to mining and processing of strategic and CRMs such as lithium, rare earths and cobalt.
Drawing up a European Rare Earth Act.
Carrying out an ambitious EU digital agenda to build strategic international partnerships such as the EU-US Trade and Technology Council.
MEP Winzig also stressed the need to upgrade the EU’s existing gas infrastructure and connectivity between Member States, as well as to start negotiations with partners on the production and trade of sustainable hydrogen.