Raw Materials Scoreboard highlights urgency to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of raw materials supply in the EU

Today, the Commission presented the 3^rd Raw Materials Scoreboard at the 2021 Raw Materials Week.

The Scoreboard presents an in-depth analysis of Europe's raw material supply chains, their competitiveness and trade flows. It provides input to the EU's policy efforts at a time when global raw material supply chains continue to be severely disrupted, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent surge in energy prices around the world.

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, responsible for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight said: “Raw materials are no longer a simple commodity but a crucial enabler of the green and digital transitions. Their secure and sustainable supply is essential for preserving the global competitiveness of the EU's most strategic sectors, as we develop and deploy clean and low-carbon technologies such as batteries, and digital solutions. We must therefore accelerate our efforts to build a more resilient raw materials value chain, by investing not only in primary raw materials extraction but also in domestic refining facilities recycling and R&I all critical for a secure supply of secondary raw materials”. 

Commissioner Thierry Breton, responsible for the Internal Market, said: “To address the climate change, inaction is not an option. The recent COP26 summit in Glasgow made it clear. While the European ambition is set, this transition is anything but seamless. The technologies we need to make it happen will require more raw materials, innovation, technological breakthroughs, skills as well as resilient, reliable and diversified sources of supply. We also need to equip ourselves with tools to anticipate and mitigate tensions in supply chains and shortages and make the most out of the opportunities offered by the Internal Market. Today's conference is a strong signal of our readiness to work together and to invest our time and money to address these challenges while striving for the sustainable global competitiveness of our industrial ecosystems.” 

The 3^rd Raw Materials Scoreboard focuses on four main raw material groups: materials, metals, wood and industrial minerals. These materials are essential to several key sectors of the European economy, such as automotive, electronics, or manufacturing industries, which depend on their secure supply. Among the findings, the report highlights that Europe lags behind and has high levels of dependency on other regions for certain raw material production, while domestic production of raw materials secures jobs and added value in the EU, and decarbonisation with circular use of raw materials also offer further opportunities.

The Scoreboard is an initiative of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials. The results of this Scoreboard provide evidence that will feed into the implementation of the 2020 Critical Raw Materials Action Plan. It will support the work of the European Raw Materials Alliance, which has recently published its recommendations for a resilient and sustainable EU's value chain of rare earths permanent magnets.