Critical Battery Metals for the EU – 10 Key Messages
The key finding? Even in the most optimistic scenarios — factoring in demand reduction, recycling, increased EU mining, and robust international partnerships — the EU’s vulnerable supply of critical battery metals will still double by 2040.
This has far-reaching implications for the EU’s ability to deliver on its energy transition, support a credible and autonomous defense policy, and reduce its strategic dependence on unstable or concentrated supply chains.
Addressing this challenge requires a multi-faceted and coordinated policy response. Our report outlines five key recommendations:
- Comprehensive Strategy: critical raw material policy must cover the entire value chain, including recycling, demand reduction, new strategic partnerships, and increased EU mining. Focusing on one aspect alone will be insufficient.
- Investment in Alternatives: Despite robust critical raw material policies, the EU must explore additional solutions, because even in optimistic forecasts, the solutions on the table are insufficient to secure demand.
- Level Playing Field: Implement measures to level the playing field between sustainable and carbon-intensive mineral sources, ensuring European activities such as production and recycling remain competitive.
- Environmental Trade-offs: Assess the environmental impacts of critical raw material projects by considering the consequences of sourcing minerals elsewhere, often at higher environmental and societal costs.
- Policy Certainty: Provide long-term policy signals to attract investor confidence, including consistent waste regulations and price signals at both the EU and national levels.
We hope these insights will support your work and help advance the conversation on the EU’s critical raw material strategy. We welcome your thoughts or any opportunities to exchange further at info@ortelius.be.
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- info@ortelius.be