Commission selects 13 Strategic Projects in third countries to secure access to raw materials and to support local value creation

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

The Commission adopted the first list of 13 Strategic Projects on strategic raw materials located outside of the EU, including in overseas countries or territories. The Strategic Projects will diversify the EU’s sources of supply and increase economic security. At the same time, the projects are designed to boost local value creation in third countries.

This initiative complements the list of 47 Strategic Projects in the EU, adopted on 25 March 2025. In total, all 60 Strategic Projects will contribute to the competitiveness of EU’s industry and in particular sectors such as electro mobility, renewable energy, defence and aerospace. Those projects are the first results of the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act which entered into force in May 2024.

Overview of the selected projects

Among the 13 Strategic Projects, seven are located in Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, with whom the EU has a strategic partnership on raw materials value chains; and the remaining ones are located in Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi, New Caledonia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. 

Ten of these Strategic Projects concern strategic raw materials essential for electric vehicle, batteries and battery storage, like lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Two Strategic Projects cover the extraction of rare earth elements, which play a key role in producing high-performance magnets used in wind turbines or electric motors for renewable energy technologies and electro mobility.  Combined with the three Strategic Projects in the EU that cover the processing of rare earths, these additional Strategic Projects will be able to increase the EU’s security of supply of rare earths. Strategic Projects also cover copper, used from power-grid to microelectronics, tungsten, and boron, used in the automotive, renewable energy, aerospace and defence sectors.

Selection process

The selected Strategic Projects were assessed by independent experts to ensure that they meet the criteria established in the Critical Raw Materials Act, notably regarding environmental, social and governance standards as well as technical feasibility. In addition, the projects have to be mutually beneficial and bring benefits both to the EU and to the third countries concerned. The projects had to demonstrate the prospects of contributing to EU supply security, for instance through concluding off-take agreements with European downstream industries.

Benefits for the selected projects

The selected Strategic Projects will benefit from coordinated support by the Commission, Member States and financial institutions in the form of facilitating access to finance and contacts with relevant off-takers. It is estimated that the 13 Strategic Projects outside of the EU need an overall capital investment of €5.5 billion to start operations.

The Commission will also reinforce cooperation with the third countries concerned to ensure the development of those projects, especially through the Strategic Partnerships already concluded with some of these countries on raw materials value chains.

Background

The Critical Raw Materials Act entered into force on 23 May 2024. On the same day, the Commission published a call for submission of proposals for recognition of projects as Strategic Projects with a cut-off date on 22 August 2024. Applications considered complete were assessed by the Commission with the support of external experts to check whether the projects meet relevant criteria. Based on this assessment, the Commission identified a list of projects for the extraction, processing, recycling or substitution of strategic raw materials. The Commission consulted the Critical Raw Materials Board, composed of Member States, and the European Parliament as an observer, to discuss and adopt an opinion on the list of Strategic Projects on 20 February 2025 and on 12 March 2025.

The Commission adopted a decision on a first list of Strategic Projects in the EU on 25 March 2025.