EU must set aside over 10 billion euros for key minerals, says agency head

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union needs to create funds of more than 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) to spur investment in exploration, mining and recycling of critical raw materials, the head of an EU-funded agency for key minerals said on Wednesday. 

The bloc has set 2030 targets for 34 minerals such as lithium and copper required for its green transition - to meet 10% of its annual needs from mining and 25% from recycling, and process 40% of its consumption in Europe.

It also specified that a single third country should not supply more than 65% of a given mineral. For many minerals, the EU's reliance on China surpasses this amount.

Bernd Schaefer, CEO of EIT RawMaterials, said the bloc needed to set aside money in its next seven-year budget from 2028 to promote mining and recycling.

"It should be probably start with at least a billion or 2 billion euros and have the potential to grow considerably," he told Reuters in an interview.

Schaefer also said the bloc needed an exploration fund of around 10 billion euros to determine what minerals the EU could mine. Combined with private funds, investment could rise to around 100 billion euros.

Schaefer said the bloc needed to assess future consumption and supply for each mineral and convert general alliances with international partners into tangible volumes at a time of increased geopolitical tensions.

"The Americans are very much hands on in getting things down the road," Schaefer said. "It should be a wake-up call for Europe to act now."    

He also said EU countries' plans for increased defence spending, not considered when the EU set its raw material targets, meant Europe would need even more minerals such as vanadium, titanium, molybdenum and chromium.

"The volumes are not huge, but there is a greater sensitivity in terms of sourcing and the sense of urgency is superseding that for energy or mobility raw materials."    

($1 = 0.8905 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Ed Osmond)