Missed opportunity for Europe as a business location

The automotive industry association complains that the legislative initiative Critical Raw Materials Act as part of the European Commission’s Green Deal Industrial Plan falls far short of expectations and needs. VDA President Hildegard Müllers sees Germany and Europe left behind in the international race for raw materials – with correspondingly clear effects on competitiveness.

In the Vdrband’s opinion, the Critical Raw Material Acts would have given Europe the chance to catch up and set new standards. Maier: rategie strengths and weaknesses: “Focusing on one list for strategic raw materials is basically correct… The fact that a Critical Raw Materials Board should identify strategic raw materials projects, which then benefit from faster approval processes and simpler financing, is an important step in the right direction.” In addition to these positive aspects, the proposal is far behind what was originally announced.

The VDA President even sees Europe’s position on the global raw materials market as weakened. Specifically, the President’s criticism: The Commission’s proposal ignores the demand for a European agency for strategic raw material projects, as does the establishment of a raw material fund to finance the identified strategic raw material projects. Maier: “This ignores two central demands from experts and industry – and a great opportunity is missed.”

Instead, Müller sees completely unrealistic goals for self-sufficiency, recycling and import quotas for 2030. Goals that cannot be achieved from today’s perspective due to the long lead times for raw material projects (up to ten years) or the long service life of products (at least 15 years for vehicles),” says Müller. (awm)