Full Breakdown
EU Accelerates Critical Minerals Projects Amid Growing Trade Tensions with China
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Core Development: Designation of 46 New Strategic Projects
On 9 October 2026 the European Commission announced 46 projects that receive “Strategic Project” status under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The designation grants accelerated permitting and easier access to financing for initiatives spanning extraction, processing, recycling and integrated value-chain steps. The projects target 15 of the 17 materials listed in the CRMA and are intended to help the EU meet legally binding 2030 benchmarks for reducing reliance on foreign sources.
Background & Context: Legal Framework and Trade Pressures
The CRMA entered into force on 23 May 2024, establishing mandatory targets for the EU to source at least 10 % of its critical raw material extraction, 40 % of processing and 25 % of recycling within the bloc by 2030. The current round follows an earlier batch of flagship projects announced after the Act’s adoption. At the same time, the EU is engaged in high-level trade talks with China to avert a broader trade conflict. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefcovic has been negotiating in Beijing to curb Chinese hybrid-car exports and preserve a “green channel” for rare-earth licences, reflecting concerns that a growing trade deficit—estimated at roughly €1 billion per day—could trigger sector-wide crises.
Official Statements & Responses
Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné warned that the EU could face a crisis in the coming months if trade tensions with China intensify, emphasizing the need to “pull out all the stops” to secure supplies for the auto, defence and renewable-energy sectors. He highlighted three emblematic projects: a rare-earth plant near Pau, France (the Carester plant) expected to produce about 15 % of global dysprosium and terbium output; an operational gallium plant in Greece; and the Keliber lithium extraction and processing facility in Finland, which already benefits from €150 million European Investment Bank support.
He also noted that China pledged to continue facilitating rare-earth export licences, a move intended to improve predictability for European manufacturers.
Criticism & Opposition
Industry observers doubt that the strategic-project scheme is sufficient to achieve the 2030 targets. The French lithium refiner Viridian Lithium, which received strategic status in 2025, entered judicial liquidation in March 2026, underscoring financing challenges. A coalition of 23 projects designated in 2025 wrote to the Commission urging “urgent unlocking” of projects facing acute liquidity pressures. These critiques suggest that accelerated permitting alone may not translate into timely investment decisions or construction starts.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the projected impact of the new projects. While the Commission’s own assessment projects near-full coverage of several extraction and processing benchmarks, analysts note that historically announced project counts have outpaced actual tonnage delivered, with final investment decisions and construction often lagging behind designation. No definitive data are available yet on how many of the 46 projects will reach operational status by 2030.
What’s Next
The EU plans to continue leveraging the RESourceEU communication framework, which has already mobilised over €2 billion through the Innovation Fund, state aid and the European Investment Bank. Ongoing negotiations in Beijing aim to translate the hybrid-car and rare-earth understandings into concrete trade measures. Member states have pledged additional financing, and the Commission will monitor progress on environmental assessments, construction permits and offtake agreements as the projects move toward final investment decisions.