By enr with AFP, ANSA, Belga, dpa, EFE, LUSA, Ritzau 

Scandium, beryllium, gallium: Raw materials such as these have been the subject of many headlines and threats to take over territories by Trump. But why are these materials that hardly anyone can name so important for the global economy? And what is the EU doing to secure its supply?
Rare earths and critical raw materials: the European Union needs these to push forward its strategic economic agendas. However, the 27-nation bloc is highly dependent on countries such as China for imports. 

First things first: What kind of materials are we talking about? 
The European Union has identified 34 critical raw materials (CRM). Out of those 34 entries, 17 are classified as strategic raw materials (SRM). This list includes materials such as cobalt, copper, tungsten, lithium and nickel. 
Critical raw materials are of high importance for the EU’s economy. For them, there is a high risk of supply disruption: Their sources are highly concentrated and there is a lack of good substitutes. “ Some of these elements are more or less irreplaceable, or at high cost,” said John Seaman, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri).
The SRMs are not to be confused with rare earths. Rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements. They are mostly metals and some of them are not even that rare. The group contains elements such as cerium, europium, erbium and yttrium. All rare earths are part of the EU’s list of CRMs. 
“ The more demand grows for these raw materials, the more people look for them and the more they find. The problem lies more in the relationship between extraction costs and market prices,” Seaman said.

Why does the EU need them?
Back in May 2024, the European Critical Raw Materials Act entered into force. With it, the EU aims to strengthen its strategic autonomy by increasing and diversifying its supply. 
The act sets some benchmarks for domestic capacities along the strategic raw material supply chain to be reached by 2030: 10 percent of the EU’s annual needs for extraction; 40 percent for processing and 25 percent for recycling. No more than 65 percent of the EU’s annual needs of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing should come from a single third country.
Demand is expected to increase sharply in the coming years, as critical raw materials and rare earths are essential for the EU’s plans to move away from fossil fuels. Essential components of the EU’s green transition, such as batteries or solar panels, need these raw materials. Likewise, they are part of industrial supply chains, and are used to make common products such as mobile phones work. They are also needed to develop strategic technologies in sectors such as defence.
One example: The Commission expects EU demand for lithium batteries, which power electric and energy storage vehicles, to increase 12-fold by 2030 and 21-fold by 2050, compared to current figures.
The EU’s demand for rare earth metals, used in wind turbines and electric vehicles, is expected to increase five to six times by 2030 and six to seven times by 2050.
The Commission is planning to support a range of almost 50 projects and companies in the member states to reach its goals for the supply, processing and recycling of CRMs. 
The European Commission on Tuesday published a list of 47 “ strategic projects” which include opening mines for lithium and tungsten in its efforts to reduce its over-reliance on China.  

Photo: Steffen Trumpf/dpa: The capital of Greenland, Nuuk. With its mineral reserves, the island has attracted the attention of US President Donald Trump and the EU