Strengthening European Energy Security and Resilience through Minerals

Abstract

While energy security has always been a concern for the European Union (EU), the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have led to a greater emphasis on fostering energy resilience. Traditionally, resilience has been seen in the context of import dependence on oil and gas. However, the EU’s commitment to decarbonization requires attention to other energy sources, and the entire supply chain of such clean energy technologies. EU’s Energy Transition has a prominent role for solar photovoltaics, wind energy, grid-based storage, and electric mobility. All of these energy technologies depend on a secure and reliable access to affordable critical raw materials (CRM). Non-fuel minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and graphite are at the core of decarbonization of the EU’s energy sector. The European Commission has been focusing on CRM for a few years now and has recently released a Proposal for Establishing a Framework for CRM security. This article studies the EU’s approach to CRM, especially in light of the recent Proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of CRMs by adopting a more contemporary and broader definition of resilience which balances recovery or bouncing back with adaptability or bouncing forward. Critical Minerals, Energy Transition, Critical Raw Materials, EU, Energy Resilience