Critical Raw Materials Act

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) creates the conditions to ensure EU access to a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials, enabling Europe to meet its 2030 climate and digital targets while preserving its competitiveness and economic security needs.

Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) are raw materials which are indispensable for a wide set of goods, products and technologies from phones to washing machines, cars to solar panels. They are particularly important for EU value chains (all the different steps in industrial processes and factories through which goods and products are made, from these raw materials to the finished product) and strategic objectives such as the energy and digital transitions, space and defence.

The EU's demand for critical raw materials such as lithium, copper and cobalt is set to increase exponentially as the EU transitions to clean energy systems which requires the building up of local production of batteries, solar panels, permanent magnets and other green technologies. This will happen whilst the supply of critical raw materials is also being confronted with rising geopolitical, environmental and social risks and challenges. The transition will mark a shift from a fuel-intensive system to a material-intensive system.

As CRMs are currently mainly sourced outside of the European Union, the CRMA aims to diversify its supply of such materials and has set the following objectives:

• Create secure and resilient EU critical raw materials supply chains: The CRMA will reduce the administrative burden and simplify permitting procedures for critical raw materials projects in the EU. In addition, approved strategic projects will benefit from support for access to finance and shorter permitting timeframes. Member States will also have to develop national exploration programmes for CRMs.
• Ensure that the EU can mitigate supply risks: To ensure resilience of the supply chains, the CRMA provides for the monitoring of critical raw materials supply chains, and the coordination of strategic raw materials stocks among Member States. Certain large companies will have to perform a risk assessment of their strategic raw materials supply chains.
• Protect the environment by improving circularity and sustainability of critical raw materials: Improved security and affordability of CRM supplies must go hand in hand with increased efforts to mitigate any adverse impacts, both within the EU and in third countries with respect to labour rights, human rights and environmental protection. Efforts to improve sustainable development of critical raw materials value chains will also help promote economic development in third countries and also sustainability governance, human rights, conflict-resolution and regional stability.

The CMRA sets benchmarks for EU capacities along the strategic raw material supply chain and for diversifying EU supply:

• EU extraction capacity of at least 10% of the EU's annual consumption of strategic raw materials
• EU processing capacity of at least 40% of the EU's annual consumption of strategic raw materials
• EU recycling capacity of at least 25% of the EU's annual consumption of strategic raw materials, and
• Not more than 65% of the EU's annual consumption of each strategic raw material relies on a single third country for any relevant stage of the value chain

To achieve these benchmarks, the CRMA sets measures to strengthen EU CRM production capacities along the entire value chain, such as for instance a new framework to select and implement strategic projects, which can benefit from streamlined permitting and from enabling conditions for access to finance. It also sets out national requirements to develop exploration programmes in Europe. In addition, Member States are required to establish or designate one or more authorities as single points of contact per the relevant stage of the critical raw materials value chain. Strategic projects can also be developed in third countries, to the mutual benefit of the EU and its partners.

Information on strategic projects and the application process for designation can be found on the European Commission CRMA website.

Ireland has two Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) who will be responsible for coordinating the permit-granting process for both critical and strategic raw material projects, one for extraction and one for processing and recycling.

The Geoscience Regulation Office (GSRO) within the ministry/Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment is the SPOC for extraction projects, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the SPOC for processing and recycling projects. Both SPOCs are in the process of setting up their administrative procedures.

Contact Details

Geoscience Regulation Office (GSRO)

Tom Johnson House, Haddington Road, Dublin, D04 K7X4

Email: gsro@dcee.gov.ie

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford, Y35 W821

Email: licensing@epa.ie