Press release on the EU Raw Materials Act

Berlin, 22 May 2023. It is with great concern that environmental and human rights organisations are looking to Brussels this week. Several EU institutions, including: the Industry Committee of the European Parliament and the Competitiveness Council of the Member States, to discuss the Critical Raw Materials Act in the coming days. The organisations warn that the draft law in its current form poses massive risks to human rights and the environment – it could even undermine democratic participation inside and outside the EU. If so-called strategic raw material projects, as envisaged in the draft, are classified as "overriding public interest", they could, for example, be placed above environmental protection concerns. Raw material-rich countries could also continue to be reduced to the role of raw material suppliers and as lucrative sales markets for the Global North, the organizations fear.

“Reduction strategies are missing from the draft. This is not only ecologically and human rights fatal. More mining will not increase security of supply, if we continue to keep many critical raw materials in human use for only ten years. So we remain dependent on non-democratic states. With the Critical Raw Materials Act, the EU suggests that one can simply continue to operate as before by replacing fossil fuels with metallic raw materials. This results in ten to 15 percent of global CO2 emissions from mining or further processing into metals.“, criticised Michael Reckordt, team leader in raw materials at PowerShift.

“The current draft of the Raw Materials Act completely neglects the considerable potential of waste prevention, reuse and resource efficiency in the area of circular economy. Although a Europe-wide recycling target for all critical raw materials is included, there is a lack of binding and concrete requirements for the Member States", explains Barbara Metz, Federal Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.. "Deutsche Umwelthilfe calls for a law to secure Europe's supply of raw materials to include concrete requirements for reducing the demand for critical raw materials. Measures are also needed for the rapid establishment of regional structures, e.g. for high-quality recycling or the production of spare parts.”

The raw materials sector poses massive risks to human rights and the environment. Corruption also plays a worrying role. "The selection of so-called strategic projects must be based on high environmental and social standards, both in the EU and in third countries. No-go zones, i.e. areas where no extraction or processing is allowed at all, can also make an important contribution here", says Commodity expert Viktoria Reisch from Germanwatch. "However, the conditions in the current draft do not guarantee this. It is necessary to ensure that only companies that demonstrate compliance with human rights and environmental due diligence obligations are eligible for the selection of strategic projects.”

Pia Marchegiani, Deputy Director of the Argentine environmental organization FARN and partner organization of Bread for the World commented: “The implementation of key rights, such as the right to participate and the right to free, prior and informed consent of indigenous and local communities, as recognised by the Escazú Convention and ILO Convention 169, is the responsibility of the State. It cannot be delegated to companies, auditors or other third parties. For this reason, industry standards and certifications must not play a role in the European Critical Raw Materials Act."

Background: The European Critical Raw Materials Act aims to ensure the supply of key raw materials for industry in the field of energy transition, digitalisation, defence and space within the EU. The European Commission currently lists 34 raw materials as critical, including lithium and cobalt. The committees of the European Parliament want to vote on the law after the summer break.

Press contact: 

Vanessa Fischer, Press Officer, vanessa.fischer@power-shift.de, +49 (0)157 / 547 68 413