EU lawmakers rebuke China over rare earth curbs before summit

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Parliament condemned China on Thursday over its export restrictions on rare earths and insisted the European Union must reject any attempts by Beijing to use the restrictions to force concessions from the bloc.

Two weeks before an EU-China summit at which rare earths are set to be a key topic, EU lawmakers backed a motion saying that China's action was unjustified and had coercive intent and that its "quasi-monopolistic position" gave it enormous leverage.

The European Parliament approved the motion by 523 in favour to 75 against, with 14 abstentions. The motion is non-binding but influential, since the parliament is the EU's only directly elected institution.

China, which mines about 60% of the world's rare earths and makes 90% of rare earth magnets used in everything from automobiles to home appliances, imposed restrictions in early April requiring exporters to obtain licenses from Beijing.

The parliamentary motion urged China to lift the restrictions, imposed in the midst of a trade war with the United States, while noting that Beijing had established "green lanes" to simplify the process for European companies.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi downplayed European worries in Berlin last week, saying it was standard practice to control exports of goods that could have a military use, but that Europe's needs could be met if applications were submitted.

The EU lawmakers also called on the European Union to back up its 2030 targets for domestic mining and processing critical mineral projects with a specific budget, and to assess minimum required levels of strategic stocks of rare earths.

(Reporting by Milan Strahm, editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Aidan Lewis)