The European Commission has identified 47 strategic projects for the extraction of rare metals

The European Commission (EC) has approved a list of 47 strategic projects aimed at increasing the production of 14 of the 17 critical materials for the energy transition and security of the European Union (EU). This is stated on March 25 in a release on the EC website.

The list was prepared as part of the implementation of the "Law on Critical Raw Materials", adopted in 2023. According to the document, by 2030, the EU plans to provide 10% of production, 40% of processing and 25% of utilization of its needs for these resources.

The list includes aluminum, copper, nickel, lithium, and rare earth elements that are used in batteries, wind turbines, and electric vehicles.

The projects are being implemented in 13 EU countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Poland. Additional lists are expected to be published, including projects outside the Union.

"Chinese lithium cannot become the Russian gas of tomorrow. We must extract, process and recycle raw materials in Europe," European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejournay wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

So much, but not enough: what are rare earth metals and what are they for?

In 2025, Russia began to actively develop the industry

Earlier, on February 25, it became known that the European Union had offered Kiev to conclude an agreement on "critically important materials." European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stefan Sejournay noted that Ukraine "can provide the EU with 21 of the 30 most important materials."

He later said that the EC had not offered Kiev any new agreement on rare earth resources, it was a memorandum of understanding in 2021.