EU countries agreed on “critical” law

An agreement was reached on the Critical Raw Materials Law negotiated between the Council of the European Union (EU), member states and the European Parliament (EP).

Under the law, EU countries will strive to supply critical raw materials in a sustainable way. In this context, the goal is to extract at least 10 percent of the EU’s annual consumption, process at least 40 percent and recycle at least 25 percent.

The law also provides for measures to diversify the EU’s supply of strategically critical raw materials. In this context, the objective is that the EU does not provide more than 65 percent of its consumption of any strategic raw material from a single foreign country.

It is claimed that the law will also impose significant obligations on large companies. Consequently, large companies will have to periodically carry out risk assessments of their supply chains for critical raw materials. (AA)