EEB warns of delays in EU strategic raw material projects

About a quarter of the EU's initially selected strategic raw material projects are on schedule, the European Environmental Bureau said on October 9. The organisation warned of delays in a programme intended to reduce Europe's reliance on overseas suppliers.

EEB policy specialist Diego Francesco estimated that at least one in three mining and processing projects in the first group was already late, suspended or no longer viable. This is the environmental organisation's assessment, also reported by Politico, rather than the published result of a European Commission audit.

In March 2025, the EU selected 47 strategic projects within the bloc. They are intended to expand domestic extraction, processing and recovery of materials. Industry participants cite funding shortages, permitting difficulties and political disagreements among the obstacles.

The Critical Raw Materials Act sets benchmarks for 2030: domestic extraction should cover 10% of the EU's annual strategic raw material needs, processing 40% and recycling 25%. A further benchmark is to source no more than 65% of demand for each such material, at the relevant processing stage, from any single country outside the EU. It concerns dependence on an individual supplier, rather than a combined cap on imports from all third countries.

EEB calls for capacity expansion to be combined with lower resource consumption and environmental safeguards. It argues that faster permitting alone will not resolve projects' market difficulties.