EU introduces measures to secure raw materials, strengthen economic security

The European Commission has presented new initiatives that it says will strengthen the EU's economic security and boost competitiveness. However, the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) says the measures could create adverse market distortions for the recycling industry.

The initiatives

On Dec. 2, the EC and the High Representative presented a Joint Communication on strengthening Economic Security. According to the Commission, this new approach, which builds on the Economic Security Strategy of 2023, outlines concrete steps to make the EU stronger and more resilient in the face of growing external economic threats while remaining open and committed to international trade and investment.

The proposal outlines a number of key actions:

• establishing a more proactive and targeted approach focusing on six priority high-risk areas;
• coordinated and strategic use of tools to improve EU action;
• improved risk assessment and information gathering and sharing to ensure timely and effective intervention;
• completing the EU's economic security toolbox with new tools to address the current gaps, such as ResourceEU; and
• international cooperation with trusted partners, promoting common economic security standards and addressing key challenges together.

The ResourceEU action plan referenced in the Joint Communication on strengthening Economic Security builds on the Critical Raw Materials Act and aims to accelerate and amplify the efforts to secure the EU's supply of critical raw materials for key industrial sectors and protect EU value chains from supply disruptions. This includes sectors such as automotive, industrial motors, defense, aerospace, artificial intelligence chips and data centers. 

According to the Commission, the ResourceEU action plan would protect European industry from geopolitical and price shocks by setting up a European Critical Raw Materials Center to diversify and strengthen the supply chains, using the Raw Materials Platform to aggregate demand, jointly purchase strategic raw materials and secure offtake agreements, and developing a coordinated EU approach to stockpiling critical raw materials. It also would promote critical raw materials projects by derisking investments and fast-tracking permitting, which can reduce dependencies by up to 50 percent by 2029. Over the next 12 months, 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in EU funds will support projects that can provide alternative supplies in the short term. Finally, the ResourceEU action plan would see the EU partner with like-minded countries to strengthen and diversify supply chains, building on the existing 15 strategic partnerships with resource-rich countries while also working on new investment frameworks.

“In a more volatile and unpredictable world, Europe must update its strategic reflexes and prepare for every possible scenario,” says Stéphane Séjourné, the European Commission executive vice president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. “Our ability to safeguard the resilience of our economy cannot depend on any single geopolitical configuration. With the launch of the ResourceEU program, this new doctrine is not just a vision for the future—it is already operational. We are equipping the Union with the tools it needs to remain strong, adaptable, and sovereign in the face of global uncertainty.”

Maroš Šefčovič, commissioner for Trade and Economic Security and Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, says, “Europe remains a champion of open trade and global investment, but openness without security becomes vulnerability. To stay resilient in a shifting geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape, we must use our tools more strategically and assertively while developing new ones to reinforce our economic security. And we must strengthen our capacity to gather and share economic intelligence, because true security is only possible when Europe acts as one—with member states and industry moving in sync.”

“Economic security is fundamental to Europe’s security,” says Kaja Kallas, high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice president of the European Commission. “When access to the critical raw materials we need for our defense is cut off, over-dependencies become physically dangerous. Today, we adopt a new strategy to reduce these dependencies by diversifying our supply chains while remaining open to trade with partners. Effectively using the EU’s full trade arsenal to respond to economic threats is a core element of this strategy. And smarter choices, from a more strategic use of EU funding to increased intelligence sharing, can help make the Union more secure.”

What’s next?

To implement the EU’s new Economic Security approach, the Commission will adapt how it uses the EU’s existing tools and develop new tools to address the current gaps in the EU’s economic security.

Measures will include evaluating in the coming year its Dual-Use Export Control Regulation to see if it is well-adapted to its aims and can keep pace with the latest geopolitical developments; considering economic security implications in relevant trade defense investigations and in the design of measures; and using the Foreign Subsidies Regulation and other competition tools to preserve fair competition, especially where unfair competition is identified as a source of a dependency which threatens the EU’s economic security.

New tools will be created, such as launching a pilot project to monitor startups in critical technology areas, aimed at identifying those that are vulnerable to hostile foreign acquisitions and offering them support; and incentivizing companies to reduce dependencies in emerging technology areas as part of the upcoming Chips Act 2.0, Quantum Act, Cloud and AI Development Act and Commission Strategy on Open Source.

The BIR responds

Brussels-based BIR says that while the newly published Economic Security Doctrine and the ResourceEU Action Plan confirm the central role of recycling and secondary raw materials in securing Europe’s industrial future, several measures risk undermining the resilience and competitiveness the EU seeks to protect.

The Action Plan includes many initiatives the organization says would affect international recyclers:

• restricting exports of scrap and waste of permanent magnets, targeted measures on aluminum scrap and potentially similar steps for copper, depending on market monitoring, by early 2026;
• expanding EU product requirements and labeling rules for permanent magnets, including declarations of recycled content and measures encouraging recovery of preconsumer waste;
• strengthening the focus on critical raw materials (CRM) waste shipment facilitation within the EU, aligned with the Waste Shipment Regulation;
• creating a European Critical Raw Materials Center and the launch of a coordinated EU stockpiling scheme in early 2026; and
• Introducing measures to boost collection under the revision of the WEEE Directive, improving access to CRM-containing end-of-life products.

The Economic Security Doctrine complements this by signaling future adjustments to the EU’s trade, industrial and investment-screening toolkit, the BIR notes, with a 2026 assessment of whether new instruments are needed to respond to “unfair trade practices and global market distortions.”

The BIR says trade-restrictive approaches need to be grounded in transparent data, proportionality and a clear assessment of global market impacts.

The organization calls for transparent, proportional, data-driven policy design based on real-world trade flows and a balanced understanding of the international recycling market. “Export-restrictive measures designed without rigorous global impact assessments can distort markets, reduce competition and disrupt international circular-trade flows. For efficient resource use and emissions reductions worldwide, it is key to preserve the openness of global circular-economy trade and promote investments in positive incentives while avoiding counterproductive effects of restrictive trade measures,” the BIR says.

"To secure Europe's industrial future and resilience, the continent needs competitive, well-functioning international markets for recycled materials,” says Alev Somer, BIR trade and environment director. “We fully support the EU’s ambition to expand recycling capacity, but this success depends entirely on evidence-based policies and predictable trade frameworks. Measures that hinder open trade, particularly those designed without rigorous global impact assessments, risk being entirely counterproductive."

The BIR says it remains committed to collaborating with the European Commission and EU member states to ensure that Europe’s pursuit of economic security and raw-materials resilience strengthens rather than undermines global circularity.