The EU will announce a new strategy, aiming to significantly reduce its reliance on China for critical raw materials

The European Commission will unveil a series of measures this week aimed at reducing the EU's high dependence on China in key raw material sectors, in response to increasingly fierce global industrial competition from the US and Asia.

Reuters cited several EU and industry officials who said that although there have been signs over the years that the rules-based trading system has gradually weakened, this trend accelerated further after US President Trump returned to the White House. However, European governments have been "slow in strategic moves," and now are facing the reality of fully exposed supply chain vulnerabilities.

European Central Bank President Lagarde said last week: "Europe has become more vulnerable, partly due to its reliance on third countries for security and critical raw material supplies." She warned that the growth model Europe relied on in the past is no longer suitable for today's global landscape.

China's restrictions on rare earths cause panic in Europe — automotive, clean energy, and chip industries hit

Beijing imposed further export restrictions on rare earths in October, and related measures were introduced in April this year, causing strong concerns in European automotive, clean energy, and semiconductor sectors. These industries rely heavily on Chinese rare earths.

EU Industry Commissioner Séjourné said last week that Europe is not only a "victim" of US-China trade tensions, but also a direct target.

The EU will announce a draft of its new "Economic Security Strategy" on Wednesday, with one of the key focuses being the "ResourceEU" plan, modeled after the previous "RePowerEU" plan designed to reduce dependence on Russian energy.

A senior EU official told Reuters that the fastest solution is to immediately allocate 3 billion euros from the EU budget to support the 25 most urgent projects among the 60 strategic projects listed by the Commission. These projects will focus on producing key materials such as rare earths, gallium, germanium, and lithium.

The EU is also seeking support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and its "Global Gateway" program to advance investments in third countries that are beneficial to the EU supply chain.

A senior EU official said: "All options are on the table, including trade measures."

The EU has also launched a pilot reserve mechanism, cooperating with member states to jointly purchase and store critical raw materials, to enhance bargaining power and ensure supply.

Source: rfi

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1850266296628224/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.