Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service Podcasts.

Today we'll be talking about critical raw materials and how the EU plans to ensure security of supply and cut unwanted dependencies from third countries.

Want to know more? Keep listening.

Balkite, graphite, strontium. You may never have heard about them before, but these raw materials

will play a big role in the green and digital transitions Europe has embarked on. Without them,

we simply wouldn't have smartphones, TV and computer screens, electric cars, wind turbines,

and many other products and applications that make our everyday life

easier and more comfortable. And COVID-19 has painfully showed how dependent we are on just such

technological products. So, where's the problem? Well, the problem is, if Europe is serious about

becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and the most

digitally advanced, it needs to radically change its approach to raw materials.

And this is the reason why.

Let's hear Commissioner Thierry Breton in charge of the EU's internal market.

The digital and green transitions will require a lot of critical raw materials. They'll require batteries as well as magnets, and magnets are rare earths.

We will also need semiconductors, and these are also critical materials.

The EU has identified 30 critical raw materials of high importance

for clean and future-oriented industries,

such as environmental technologies, consumer electronics, health, defence, space exploration and aviation.

These materials are not only economically and strategically important for the European economy

and the development of key technologies

that could propel the EU to digital and defence sovereignty. They also hold the key to Europe,

becoming a stronger geopolitical player. But here's the downside. They come with high risk associated

...