The European Union is developing a new plan to reduce dependence on China for critical raw materials. As reported by Reuters, this was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, expressing criticism of Beijing for expanding restrictions on the export of rare earth metals.
The EU has been trying for many years to reduce its dependence on China for the supply of minerals that are needed for the development of clean energy, the defense sector and the production of electric vehicles.
Von der Leyen noted that the European Union plans to intensify partnerships with countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine in the field of critical raw materials.
In addition, she said, the new plan would include expanding the processing of such materials in products sold on the European market.
“The goal is to ensure access to alternative sources of critical raw materials in the short, medium and long term for our European industries,”, von der Leyen said during a conference in Berlin.
She also said that the initiative, called RESourceEU, would be similar to the REPowerEU program, which the EU created after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to reduce dependence on Russian energy resources.
