The European Union and the United States have concluded a strategic partnership on critical raw materials, which aims to strengthen the security and diversification of supply chains in the context of growing geopolitical and economic risks. The partnership was formalised by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and complemented by an EU-US Action Plan, which aims to translate political commitments into concrete cooperation across the value chain. Critical raw materials are essential for the energy transition, batteries, electromobility, semiconductors and defense technologies. The full wordings of the Memorandum of Understanding and the Action Plan are available at the following links: Link 1, Link 2.

The cooperation covers the entire life cycle of raw materials – from exploration, mining and processing, through refining and recycling, to material recovery. The emphasis is on common standards for sustainable mining and processing, support for investment, research and innovation, and better sharing of geological data. The Action Plan also opens up space for coordinated trade tools such as long-term offtake agreements, standardized markets and rapid response mechanisms to supply disruptions.

From the EU perspective, the partnership is a key element of a broader strategy to reduce strategic dependencies and strengthen the resilience of European industry. At the same time, the partnership should complement objectives of the Green Deal and EU industrial policy. It sends a clear signal to businesses about the growing importance of secure, sustainable and transparent supply chains of critical raw materials and that economic security is becoming an integral part of ESG and long-term competitiveness. Cooperation is to continue within the G7 and other international initiatives.