Rare Earth Elements and the European Union

Abstract

Political and economic risk in the supply chain of raw materials can lead to supply bottlenecks. The security vulnerability and threat in the supply chain of high tech industries is an important challenge to the economic performance of economies around the world. Within this volume on supply chain vulnerability with regard to rare earth elements (REE), this chapter focuses on Germany and the European Union (EU). It will highlight Germany’s different policy initiatives on national, European, and international levels showing how Germany seeks to develop policy instruments on all three levels to ensure ready access to raw materials. It will also discuss the perception of criticality in Europe. Ultimately, it seeks to assess the degree of supply chain vulnerability associated with rare earth elements.