The Commission has made a historic move by adopting a groundbreaking list of 47 Strategic Projects designed to elevate domestic capabilities for strategic raw materials. This initiative aims to fortify the European raw materials value chain and diversify the sources of supply, paving the way for a more resilient economy. These Strategic Projects symbolise a pivotal milestone in implementing the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which aspires for European extraction, processing, and recycling to fulfil 10%, 40%, and 25% of the EU’s demand by 2030, respectively.
The CRMA began on May 23, 2024, when the Commission called for proposals for Strategic Projects due by August 22, 2024. A list of projects for strategic raw materials was created after assessments. The Commission consulted the Critical Raw Materials Board in early 2025 and plans to announce a new call for applications by the end of summer.
“At the very start of our most strategic supply chains, are raw materials. They are also indispensable to the decarbonisation of our continent. But Europe currently depends on third countries for many of the raw materials it needs the most. We must increase our own production, diversify our external supply, and make stockpiles. Today, we have identified 47 new strategic projects that, for the first time, will help us secure our own domestic supply of raw materials. This is a landmark moment for European sovereignty as an industrial powerhouse,” Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, explained.
By facilitating Europe’s journey toward these ambitious targets, these projects are set to play a critical role in the continent’s green and digital transformations while also bolstering the defence and aerospace sectors. Spanning across 13 EU Member States—including Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland, and Romania—these 47 projects cover a broad raw material value chain spectrum. Within this impressive portfolio, 25 projects are dedicated to the extraction of resources, 24 to processing, 10 to recycling, and 2 to focusing on substituting raw materials.
These Strategic Projects specifically target 14 of the 17 strategic raw materials highlighted in the CRMA. Among them, an impressive collection focuses on lithium (22 projects), nickel (12 projects), cobalt (10 projects), manganese (7 projects), and graphite (11 projects), each poised to enhance the EU’s battery raw material sector significantly. By undertaking these initiatives, the EU aims to not only meet its extraction, processing, and recycling benchmarks for lithium and cobalt by 2030 but also to make substantial strides in graphite, nickel, and manganese.
Moreover, the endeavour includes projects centred on magnesium (1 project) and tungsten (3 projects), which are crucial for reinforcing the resilience of the EU’s defence industry, which heavily relies on these essential materials. These projects are selected based on their capacity to secure a stable supply of strategic raw materials while adhering to rigorous environmental, social, and governance standards. Additionally, these projects exhibit clear cross-border benefits for the EU, emphasising the collaborative spirit of the initiative.
To bring these 47 Strategic Projects to life, a significant overall capital investment of €22.5 billion is anticipated. The projects will benefit from a cohesive support system involving the Commission, Member States, and financial institutions, aimed at expediting their operational readiness, especially regarding access to financing and connections to crucial off-takers.
Furthermore, these projects will enjoy streamlined permitting processes, offering project promoters much-needed predictability while ensuring that environmental, social, and governance standards are upheld. In alignment with the CRMA, the permit-granting timeline for extraction projects will be capped at 27 months, and for other projects, at 15 months—a remarkable reduction from the current permitting durations that can stretch anywhere from five to ten years. This acceleration signals a new era in Europe’s approach to securing the materials vital for its future.
