RE: Europe's Rare Earth supply crunch29 Oct 2025 08:53
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday announced the EU would launch a joint purchasing and stockpiling effort for critical minerals and speed up alliances with other mining countries.
Erik Eschen, chief executive of permanent magnet maker VAC Group, said the EU had “finally woken up” with the latest raft of Chinese export controls, telling the Financial Times there were “a lot of emergency calls going on” in response to the tightened rules covering rare earth products.
The priority for policymakers should be to invest in “the right mines and the midstream”. It was “too late” to stockpile because governments would struggle to get the required material “out of China”, he said.
The commission has proposed that part of a new €409bn fund in the next EU budget, which will run from 2028, should be dedicated to critical material supply chains.