MEPs debate on how dependent the EU is on key resources needed for the digital and green transitions. The draft text calls for an EU strategy to boost strategic autonomy and resilience regarding the supply of CRMs, by building a secondary market with recycled resources. Opening statements by Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, Roman HAIDER (INTA Committee), Sara MATTHIEU (ENVI Committee), and by Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market. This transcriptions is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

HAIDER, Roman (ID, AT)

BENTELE, Hildegard (EPP, DE)

BRETON, Thierry (FR, EC)

European Green Deal (T)

MATTHIEU, Sara (Greens/EFA, BE)

European strategy for critical raw materials: opening statements by Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, Roman HAIDER (ID, AT), Sara MATTHIEU (Greens/EFA, BE), and by Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, dear members. A European strategy for critical raw materials. Our debate on this is coming to an end this week and we are going to vote. My group, the EPP, consciously seised upon this initiative and approached this issue in the Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, We are firmly convinced that what we have here is an essential indeed a strategic matter for the EU affecting all institutions, the commission, the parliament, the council and also the member states and financial and research institutions. All of these must be pushing in the same direction only in so doing where we attain our shared goal.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, In other words, the Green Deal, encompassing the fulfilment of the Paris climate aims as well as destroying our competitiveness and ensuring a jobs in Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, we're not talking about cocoa and coffee. We're talking about the rare earths, lithium, bauxite, tantalum and 25 other critical minerals, which are absolutely vital for renewable energy technologies, for greater energy efficiency, or electrical mobility, for more digital applications. And for better medical care.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, For these raw materials, we are so darn dependent on a very few, even on US supply, country or enterprise. This year, we ratcheted up our climate goals in the run up to 2030, climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. That's what we said. That's the backdrop we are working against.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, Ladies and gentlemen, all studies and forecasts suggested in Europe. We need to have a green and digital transformation, so we have to act very quickly to get our hands on more critical raw materials. So it's high time that we have a more stable supply chain. The commission has tabled a 10 measures, which I warmly embrace, but these are not enough in and of themselves.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, So I would suggest adding the following: the European Raw Materials Alliance must be boosted, and its projects when it comes to permanent magnets must be rolled out, and we also require new initiatives when it comes to storage and recycling. I am grateful to my Social Democratic colleague who wanted better coordination of national raw materials activities via a new strategic working party.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, First and foremost, we need positive signals when it comes to the funding of sustainable materials projects and the National Reconstruction Plans, in taxonomies investments, in establishing recycling as secondary markets projects and former mining regions, and in casting around for materials and and for common European projects.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, We require a swifter and more transparent approval procedure, and we have to roll out existing legislation and not hammer out new rules. We must tap into the full potential of the circulatory economy, tap into project design waste collection, stricter monitoring of our waste exports. What's the proportion of recycling, reducing our material footprint as a whole?

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, Colleague Mathieu from the Envi Committee came up with some pretty impressive ideas here. What if you have a colleague from the trade committee in both good ideas, incorporating new strategic partners, checking on our trade agreements and insisting on sustainable mining measures in third countries by introducing due diligence obligations?

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, There is a basic conflict here, dear colleagues, and we've not just what this conflict aside, this has to do with the question as to whether we in Europe are in fact prepared to have a European mining project subject to high environmental and social standards and high technological requirements. If we will contribute to getting hold of the critical materials we so dearly need.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, We must be must have a more independent industry, an industry independent of maverick industries and third countries. We in the EPP are saying yes, thumbs up, many raw materials products are to be found in the Earth. That's where they are. We are firmly convinced that we have to resolve conflicts of interest between nature protection and economic activities.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, We can solve these conflicts by our European level provisions because of this permanent offshoring of responsibility to third countries. And we are wide open to blackmail now. So many fluctuations in prices, these are not options anymore. Our Green Deal must be robust in terms of industrial policy, environmental policy, and we must be ethically robust too.

SOUNDBITE (German), Hildegard BENTELE (EPP, DE), rapporteur, EPP amendments have made an important contribution to this. Please play ball with us on this.

SOUNDBITE (German), Roman HAIDER (ID, AT), Thank you, president. The COVID 19 crisis highlighted the reliance of the EU economy on imports of raw materials. That reliance will increase over coming years and decades. So we need urgent action to reduce our dependency, we need to diversify procurement of these raw materials.

SOUNDBITE (German), Roman HAIDER (ID, AT), The EU needs to consider this whenever concluding trade agreements in future, and we also need to look at payment options and switch from US dollars to Euros so that we don't have price instability and that we don't have importers and exporters reliant on the financial markets in US dollars. We need to implement these proposals.

SOUNDBITE (German), Roman HAIDER (ID, AT), Only this way we can ensure raw material supply for the EU, secure it for the future. It is scandalous that the Europe that the Austrian government is looking to introduce a vaccine obbligation, by the way.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Sara MATTHIEU (Greens/EFA, BE), Critical materials is in greater demand. But how can we access sufficient supply? Let us be clear, we can't have mining and protected nature reserves. These rare earths could not be produced or replaced. It is vital that we preserve European biodiversity.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Sara MATTHIEU (Greens/EFA, BE), There is no support amongst people for such measures. It would water down the Green Deal. Colleagues claim that we can balance economic demands and biodiversity. They are dreaming. They are looking to allow large scale mining in vulnerable, fragile ecosystems.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Sara MATTHIEU (Greens/EFA, BE), We need strategic independence, and the only way is to repair, recycle and have smart eco design. So let's be clear. Vote tomorrow against mining in nature reserves and in favour of the circular economy. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, President, honourable members, well, firstly, allow me to thank you for this report on a strategy for critical raw materials. In particular, I would like to thank the rapporteur. Thank you very much for this crucial work. Thank you very much, Hildegarde.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, And of course, I would also like to thank the shadow rapporteurs and the members of the different committees who also contributed to this work. Now it goes without saying, as you said, access to raw materials is at the heart of our industrial strategy, and the pandemic has revealed this and pulled it even into even sharper focus than before.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, We are looking at the recovery and we're realising that the resilience of our value chains within the internal market, but also with regards to the green digital transition, depend on our ability to ensure the security of our essential supply chains.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, So it's rather simple. The EU has developed significant dependencies on different third countries rare earth elements lithium magnesium. These are all elements that we need. We need them for our green and digital transition. We need them for batteries. We need them for all the other key elements that we will be discussing over the next few decades.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Our needs, when it comes to raw materials, are only going to increase, and significantly so. We're going to need 60 times more lithium, 15 times more cobalt in 2050, just for electric batteries. We're going to need 10 times more rare Earth elements. And of course, this is without mentioning the raw material needs when it comes to other industrial applications that will be coming into place when we have the green and digital transition.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Now, geopolitics. What I call geopolitics around value chains are in play, and this is happening systemically, and this is the geopolitics of value chains. I choose to use this word specifically because that's exactly what it is. Actually, our dependencies have now become geostrategic tools that are being used against us.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Most of the time and against our interests, which of course, may have seen a significant fallout. We have seen this when it comes, for instance, to semiconductors. This has an impact on our ability to produce our ability to recover following the crisis that we've all been through. And the same goes for access to critical raw materials.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, That's why in September 2020, just over a year ago, the Commission adopted an action plan on critical raw materials. And your report clearly highlights the alignment of our institutions. When it comes to our assessment of the situation, we appear very much to be on the same page, if I may. We appeared to converge on the need to strengthen our resilience.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, When it comes to our strategic value chains, there are three pillars bolstering this work. Firstly, diversifying our supply chains, we have set up strategic partnerships, so the number of countries such as Ukraine and Canada. We've also started moving towards a number of other African countries, and we will continue to focus on open international trade.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, But whether they're partners or competitors, let me say this again tonight in this hemicycle, we must be ready to counter any attempt to use access to raw materials as a means for putting geopolitical pressure on the Union and our businesses. Hybrid threats, if you will. Unfortunately, these hybrid threats are already being deployed in other areas.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Secondly, concerning our circular economy. This is a pillar of our joint work. And of course, this is not just about greening. It's also about improving the security of our supply chains. It's about reducing our strategic dependency.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, For instance, as we said in our proposal on the batteries regulation, we'd like to see greater recycling rates in particular when it comes to graphite, lithium and nickel. A similar approach could be deployed for other critical raw materials. Rare Earth elements which you touched on, rapporteur, as well as fields where production is happening almost exclusively outside the Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, It would appear that there's also an agreement when it comes to recycling raw, critical materials. But recycling these materials just isn't enough. It's not going to be enough to respond to the increase in demand for critical raw materials. As I said, we are going to see an increase in the demand for these materials and this is linked to the green transition.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thirdly, if I may, we need to turn to the development of our national capacity. Now this is a key point, and it's something that needs to be discussed. We have resources within the union and these resources were identified both in the Commission's report as well as this report.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, You talked about improving conditions for mining activities that do not cause significant emissions in the Union. We're working on that. We also need a legal framework where there's a good balance between protecting the environment, having effective participation of local communities without whom nothing can be done. And as well meeting our need for critical materials.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, So we need to ensure that we maintain our supply chains in a way that will be responsible in a way that is in line with European values. That's an absolutely imperative condition to ensure that our green and digital transitions are successful. With that being at the mercy of unpredictable geopolitical strategies.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, So we're working hand-in-hand with the member states to ensure that industrial projects come about in Europe and to ensure that we can reduce our dependency in a tangible manner. We want to support innovation, but we also want to increase and ensure Europe's sustainability and our resilience.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, So we have launched an industrial alliance that has recently published an action plan to look at the competitive and sustainable supply chain project. That's all from me. The report that you're discussing tonight, which I hope will be adopted, only serves to highlight that we're on the right track in our approach.

SOUNDBITE (French), Thierry BRETON, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Of course, I can be reached at any time and I will continue to work on these matters, which are at the heart of our industrial economy and at the heart of a more geopolitical Europe.