Euractiv: Minerals are redrawing the geopolitical map. Europe should mainly reduce consumption

In the European Union, terms such as critical minerals, competitiveness and strategic autonomy have been bandied about more and more often recently. The Czech Republic is only just coming into this discussion, but thanks to its vast lithium reserves, it may soon find itself in the spotlight, writes researcher Kateřina Davidová in a commentary.

Critical raw materials are the focus of the new legislation. According to it, by 2030 the European Union should be able to cover 10% of its annual consumption of critical materials by its own extraction, 40% by its own processing and 15% by its own recycling. In addition, no more than 65% of any strategic material should come from a single third country. At present, the EU is well short of these targets. Most lithium now comes from Chile, silicon from Norway, graphite from China, cobalt from Congo. Only a minimum of Europe's demand for critical raw materials is met by mining on EU territory. By 2030, this could be around 30%.

You can read the full article in Czech here.

Kateřina Davidová
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU climate and energy policy, environmental protection