The European Commission has announced four new strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act, bringing the total focused on rare earths for permanent magnets to nine. While the initiatives mark progress towards the EU's 2030 targets, securing supplies for offshore wind remains a major challenge.
Critical Raw Materials Act: progress towards the EU’s 2030 targets
Estonia, Finland and Germany have joined Italy, France, Poland and Switzerland in hosting nine European strategic projects dedicated to rare earth elements used in permanent magnets, essential components of wind turbines. On 9 October, the European Commission announced four additional projects under the second call for applications of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). As with the previous selection, the new initiatives cover different stages of the value chain, from extraction and processing to recycling.
The objective, as explained by Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, is to strengthen Europe’s efforts “to regain sovereignty over critical raw materials”.
This is particularly urgent when it comes to rare earth elements. These materials are essential for manufacturing high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, advanced electronics, aerospace and defence. Although they are not as scarce as their name might suggest, their geographical distribution and highly concentrated supply chains make them strategically vulnerable.
The European Union currently relies entirely on third countries for rare earth extraction and for more than 99% of processing.
China dominates global extraction, accounting for 68%, followed by Australia (10%), the United States (9%) and Myanmar (8%). Processing is even more concentrated, with China controlling 85% and Malaysia 10%, while the EU accounts for less than 1%.
The US-China trade war adds to supply uncertainty
The situation has become increasingly complicated as trade tensions between the United States and China have intensified.
Last year, in response to US tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing introduced export controls on rare earth elements and permanent magnets. Foreign companies, including European manufacturers, were required to obtain export licences, effectively restricting shipments.
On 30 October 2025, however, the two countries reached an initial agreement. China agreed to suspend its most restrictive measures for one year in exchange for lower US tariffs.
The suspension was extended a few days ago, but only until January 2027.
The agreement also benefits the European Union, as a disruption to Chinese exports could bring entire European manufacturing lines to a standstill. Nevertheless, uncertainty remains considerable.
“We managed to gain some time through our negotiations with China and America, a 12-month suspension of some of the measures,” Séjourné commented. “We continue to discuss this with our Chinese partners. But it was a temporary truce.”
Critical raw materials for offshore wind energy
Accelerating mining, processing and recycling projects, while diversifying supply chains, has therefore become an urgent priority.
This is a position long advocated by WindEurope, the European wind energy industry association.
According to the organisation, EU manufacturers “will need to find new suppliers or re-establish relationships with previous suppliers. Besides China, other countries already producing permanent magnets include Japan, the United States, India and Indonesia.”
Although rare earth elements are not exclusively required by the wind energy sector, understanding their future demand is essential to assessing the scale of Europe’s supply challenge.
Wind turbines primarily use neodymium and praseodymium, two elements that form the core of permanent magnets. Large offshore turbines may also contain small quantities of dysprosium and terbium, which help magnets maintain their performance at high temperatures.
According to a recent study, From gigawatts to critical mineral demands for EU solar and wind, published in Nature Energy in 2026, accelerating offshore wind deployment in Europe would keep demand for these metals at elevated levels, reaching approximately 69,200 tonnes by 2050.
The figures underline the importance of securing reliable supplies of rare earth elements as Europe expands its offshore wind capacity.
Critical Raw Materials Act: nine strategic rare earth projects
Can the new strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act protect Europe against future supply disruptions?
Not yet, although they represent an important step forward.
| Year | Project name | Country | Activity | Project developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | BREES (Best Rare Earth Element Separation) | France | Recycling | Rhodia Operations |
| 2026 | HyProMag GmbH | Germany | Recycling | HyProMag GmbH |
| 2026 | Silmet 2.0 | Estonia | Processing | NPM Silmet OÜ |
| 2026 | Sokli | Finland | Extraction | Sokli Oy |
| 2025 | CAREMAG | France | Processing | CAREMAG SAS |
| 2025 | LIFE-22-ENV-IT-INSPIREE | Italy | Recycling | Itelyum Regeneration SpA |
| 2025 | MagFactory | France | Recycling | MagREEsource |
| 2025 | Pulawy Rare Earths Separation Plant | Poland | Processing | Mkango Resources Ltd. |
| 2025 | ReeMAP Project | Sweden | Integrated (extraction and processing) | LKAB |
The nine initiatives include four projects focused exclusively on recycling, three on processing, one on extraction and one integrated extraction and refining project.
Detailed information on the four projects selected under the second call has yet to be released. However, the first five EU projects have already brought the CRMA’s 2030 benchmarks closer within reach.
Their estimated contributions vary considerably depending on the stage of the production chain.
- Processing: The projects are expected to cover approximately 88% of the EU’s projected rare earth demand in 2030, compared with the 40% benchmark established by the Critical Raw Materials Act.
- Recycling: Projects selected in 2025 could meet approximately 13% of EU demand, against the CRMA’s 25% target. The new initiative in Lacq, France, developed by Carester to recover dysprosium and terbium, “could account for approximately 15% of global production of these oxides”.
- Extraction: Progress remains considerably more limited, with an estimated contribution of just 2% of EU demand, compared with the 10% target for 2030.
These figures are not yet comprehensive. More importantly, there is no guarantee that every selected project will ultimately become operational.
Strategic project status does not automatically translate into production capacity.
As the European Commission itself explains, project developers must still secure financing, complete the necessary permitting procedures and comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
The Critical Raw Materials Act is therefore helping Europe strengthen its position in the rare earth value chain, but significant challenges remain before the EU can secure the materials needed for its long-term energy transition.
