From CRMA targets to industrial delivery: New policy brief highlights the implementation challenge

Critical raw materials (CRMs) are indispensable for Europe’s green and digital transitions, underpinning technologies such as batteries, renewable energy systems, grid infrastructure, digital devices, defence applications, and advanced manufacturing. With the adoption of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), Europe has established an ambitious regulatory framework with concrete 2030 benchmarks for domestic extraction, processing, recycling, and supply diversification.

However, with fewer than five years remaining, the policy challenge has shifted decisively from setting targets to delivering them in practice. A new joint policy brief, developed by 11 Horizon Europe projects active across the CRM value chain, brings together stakeholder insights on what currently blocks industrial delivery—and what needs to change to turn CRMA objectives into operational reality.

The policy brief is complemented by a more detailed policy paper, providing in‑depth analysis and context for experts and policymakers.

The risk is not scarcity – it is delayed implementation

The central finding is clear: Europe’s main risk in meeting CRMA 2030 benchmarks is not a lack of resources or technology, but persistent implementation bottlenecks.

Drawing on stakeholder input gathered in connection with Raw Materials Week 2025, the policy brief highlights several recurring barriers that slow down industrial deployment:

  • Financing gaps for pilot and first‑of‑a‑kind (FOAK) plants, particularly in the transition from demonstration to commercial scale
  • Fragmented regulatory practices, including inconsistent waste definitions and cross‑border transport rules that hinder circular CRM flows
  • Permitting complexity and uncertainty, often linked to uneven administrative capacity and unpredictable timelines
  • Social acceptance challenges, especially in primary extraction projects where insufficient early community engagement leads to delays

 

The brief emphasises that CRMA delivery now depends on implementation quality and speed. Without targeted action to de‑risk scale‑up, improve regulatory coherence, strengthen permitting predictability, and embed social engagement early, Europe risks missing its 2030 benchmarks—not because of insufficient ambition, but because of delayed operational decisions.

At the same time, coordinated and timely implementation can accelerate industrial deployment, mobilise private investment, and anchor resilient CRM value chains within Europe. The policy brief therefore focuses on practical, implementation‑oriented recommendations that can be taken up by EU institutions, Member States, industry, and research actors.

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Contributing projects

This joint publication reflects collaboration across Horizon Europe projects working on critical raw materials across extraction, processing, recycling, and circular value chains:

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