Rare earths: how Europe wants to break with Chinese dependence

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To obtain supplies, the EU intends to forge partnerships with Africa and extract at least 10% of its annual consumption from its own subsoil.

By Emmanuel Berretta

” NOTWe want to produce turbines for wind turbines and our demand for rare earths will increase by a factor of 5 to 6 by 2030 and even more by 2050, says Commissioner and Vice-President of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis , by presenting the legislative act on critical matters, essential for the industries of the future. For electric cars, lithium demand will increase 12 times by 2030 and 21 times by 2050.”

This text has been prepared by Thierry Breton’s teams for eighteen months. “No more naivety, now it’s action!” ” claims the French commissioner who, with his teams, has drawn up a list of 18 particularly strategic materials: bismuth, boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, lithium, magnesium, manganese…