The European Commission selected 46 new strategic projects across 16 Member States to strengthen EU supply chains and diversify critical raw material sources. The projects will contribute to the benchmarks set in the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) that, by 2030, EU capacity meets at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption for extraction, 40% for processing and 25% for recycling of strategic raw materials to enhance competitiveness, develop greater resilience and be less dependent on any single supplier.
The new strategic projects are in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
The projects cover different stages of the raw materials value chain: eight focused on extraction, 11 on processing and 19 on recycling projects. In addition, there are eight integrated projects: three combine extraction and processing, and five combine processing and recycling. There are also seven projects on lithium, 12 on nickel, 10 on cobalt, five on manganese and four on graphite. The two projects on magnesium and three on tungsten will contribute to defense and aerospace, while the four projects on rare earth elements will support the permanent magnet value chain. The projects cover 15 of the 17 strategic raw materials under the CRMA.
The 46 projects – combined with the 47 strategic projects third countries in the EU and the 13 strategic projects in that were selected in March and June last year respectively – could fully meet the extraction benchmarks for lithium, nickel, rare earth elements, magnesium and tungsten, and the processing benchmarks for lithium and rare earth elements. They could also cover 89% of the processing benchmark for cobalt and 57% and 51% for tungsten and magnesium respectively, while fully meeting the recycling benchmarks for lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
“With this second wave of strategic projects, Europe is stepping up its efforts like never before to reclaim its sovereignty over critical raw materials. Since the adoption of RESourceEU, we have been using every means at our disposal to open mines, develop our processing and recycling capacities, and secure our supply chains. Our approach is simple: reduce dependency, increase production in Europe. We have the resources, the projects and the funding: now we are picking up the pace,” said Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice-president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.
The CRMA entered into force in 2024, establishing measures to strengthen the EU’s capacity along critical raw materials value chains and diversify its sources of supply. For this second call, which closed in January 2026, the Commission received 102 applications located in the EU across 18 Member States. Of these, the Commission and external experts assessed 92 applications against the criteria set by the CRMA, such as security of supply, technical feasibility, environmental, social and governance standards, and cross-border benefits for the EU. The Commission said it will soon announce a new call for strategic project applications towards the end of 2026.
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