Overview
- The plan backs 25–30 mining, refining and recycling projects, with European Investment Bank financing lines providing up to €2 billion per year in loans and other instruments.
- The Commission proposed a European Centre for Critical Raw Materials to monitor needs, coordinate joint purchases, and manage stockpiles and deliveries.
- Officials plan a stockpiling pilot in early 2026 and will curb exports of magnet scrap next year, with targeted restrictions on aluminium waste from 2026 and possible copper measures.
- An updated economic‑security doctrine adds a real‑time intelligence centre, blacklists to bar high‑risk firms from EU funds and contracts, and potential preferences for EU suppliers in strategic public tenders.
- Brussels will examine by Q3 2026 how to speed up anti‑dumping and anti‑subsidy actions, responding to China’s recent export controls now suspended for one year and to intensifying global competition for inputs.