With 3 billion euros… Europe plans to reduce dependence on China’s rare earths

Declared The European Commission announced on Wednesday that the European Union will allocate nearly 3 billion euros to reduce its dependence on Minerals and metals, which have become essential for many key sectors, including defence, the automotive industry, digital technology and renewable energy, both in Europe and in partner countries.
The Commission also plans to establish a European center for vital raw materials by early 2026.
Segournet said that the center will undertake three main tasks based on monitoring and assessing needs, joint purchasing on behalf of member states, and storage and delivery according to the needs of companies.

Restricting magnets exports Permanent

Among other concrete measures, Brussels seeks, at the beginning of next year, to restrict exports of scrap and waste permanent magnets made from rare earth elements used in many industrial applications, in order to promote their recycling in Europe.
The European Union also plans to impose more targeted restrictions on exports of aluminum waste, and may do the same for copper.

Rare earth elements are essential metal elements for entire economic sectors, especially the automotive industry, renewable energy, digital technology and defence.
/>These elements are used in the manufacture of powerful magnets, catalysts and electronic components.

China has a monopoly on rare earth reserves

China, which owns the majority of the world’s reserves of rare earth metals, not only dominates their extraction, but has also developed an almost complete monopoly on refining them.
China also dominates some strategic minerals, such as gallium used in semiconductors.
Two years ago, Europe adopted legislation aimed at securing its supplies of vital raw materials, Especially since the European Union is stuck between China, which this year tightened restrictions on its exports of rare earths, and the United States, led by Donald Trump, which is negotiating a wide range of bilateral agreements to secure its supplies.

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