EU TO CUT RELIANCE ON CHINESE RARE EARTH- Von Der Leyen says the scheme called RESourceEU would be similar to the REPowerEU plan
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the European Union is developing a new plan to curb its reliance on Chinese critical raw materials, while criticising Beijing for its expanded restrictions on the export of rare earths.
The EU has reportedly attempted to reduce its dependence on China for the minerals that are needed for the transition to cleaner energy, the defence sector and electric vehicle production.
Von der Leyen, who said the EU would seek to speed up critical raw materials partnerships with countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, further added that the plan would also include greater efforts to recycle critical raw materials in products sold in Europe.
The European commission president says the scheme, called RESourceEU, would be similar to a plan the EU developed after the Ukraine and Russia conflict started, in a bid to cut its reliance on Russian energy, known as REPowerEU.
According to von der Leyen, China’s imposed export restrictions on rare earths and battery materials has an enormous impact on European industry, in the automotive, defence and aerospace sectors, as well as on AI chips and data centres.
