Raw materials and trade agreements supporting pillars for climate-neutral economy.
In a guest article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), advocated the establishment of a European agency for strategic raw materials. The development of a circular economy alone will not be able to cover the increasing demand for lithium, cobalt or rare earths, and the continent will therefore continue to be dependent on imports. Politicians have a duty to create the right framework conditions for the economy through raw materials and trade agreements.
The task that a European raw materials agency could take on was outlined earlier this week by industry experts Jakob Kullik and Jens Gutzmer in Handelsblatt (paywall). On the one hand, its tasks would include the constant risk analysis of key markets and supply chains from the mine to the end product. On the other hand, it should be in close exchange with the relevant companies and decide together with the European Commission which of them should be supported. A European agency would create a central point of contact that would bundle all previous initiatives, the authors say.
Photo: iStock/Christian Bittmann
