EU Seeks Rare Earths Alternatives to China
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The European Commission intends to propose pursuing more bilateral trade agreements and investing in infrastructure in Africa
as a means to increase alternative sources of rare earth metals,
hoping to break China’s dominance of the market for the strategic minerals.
The measures are outlined in a strategy paper for raw materials by the commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani.
The paper states that Europe must step up its efforts to find new sources of the materials,
The European Commission intends to propose pursuing more bilateral trade agreements and investing in infrastructure in Africa
as a means to increase alternative sources of rare earth metals,
hoping to break China’s dominance of the market for the strategic minerals.
The measures are outlined in a strategy paper for raw materials by the commissioner for industry and entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani.
The paper states that Europe must step up its efforts to find new sources of the materials,
which are crucial for industry, especially in such sectors as automobiles and technology.
Concerns were raised this year after Beijing cut its rare earths export quotas by 40 percent and temporarily halted shipments to Japan.
China accounts for 95 percent of world production,
and demand for some rare earth metals is expected to increase more than twentyfold by 2030,
said the commission, the Union’s executive arm.
The global financial crisis also had a major effect on the supply side, the paper said.
“Mining projects were halted or scrapped and exploration expenditure plummeted in 2009.”
Despite renewed investment in the sector, the commission warns that global markets are distorted
as many emerging economies pursue protectionist measures to the disadvantage of E.U. industries.
“This is particularly true of China,” the report said.
Concretely, the commission is seeking more access to rare earth metals through free trade agreements with Central and Latin America
and pursuing trade negotiations with India, Canada, Russia and other countries in the region.
But high tariffs imposed by some countries means that such imports are increasingly expensive.
The E.U. trade commissioner, Karel de Gucht warned in October that Brussels intended to take a tougher stance on high tariffs.
The commission also is heavily focused on Africa,
where it wants to obtain more access to raw materials in a way that would conform to E.U. general trade policy,
meaning that any bilateral or multilateral deals have to be underpinned by sustainability and accountability.
The strategy paper states that the commission will “focus its efforts in the area of transparency,
so that revenues from mining may be translated into real development while reducing discrimination between potential investors.”
Furthermore, it notes that many African countries suffer from a lack of transport, energy and environmental infrastructure,
which prevents them from harnessing their mineral wealth.
The commission paper said that it, together with the European Investment Bank, could cooperate with African countries
to develop such projects to improve the supply of raw materials.
In Europe, the commission calls for more investment in recycling and in bolstering energy efficiency.
It says much of the E.U. annual production of almost 20 million tons of waste electrical and electronic equipment and old cars is not recycled.
This leads to not just environmental damage but also a loss of raw materials.
Environmentalists who have seen the paper criticized the commission for not going far enough in looking at resource efficiency.
“We need an innovative industrial policy that reduces the use of resources,”
said Reinhard Bütikofer, a German member of the European Parliament and vice president of the Greens/European Free Alliance Group.
“The paper does not say how a much more economical use of natural resources could be implemented.”
One industry lobbyist in Brussels said the commission’s strategy should focus more on improving efficiencies and finding alternatives.
The commission is investing €17 million, or $22.7 million, for research into improving underground technologies and the substitution of some rare earth metals.
It estimates the value of unexploited minerals at depths of 500 meters to 1,000 meters, or 1,650 feet to 3,300 feet, at €100 billion,
according to this article from the New York Times.
