MMTA and European Commission meeting report

On June 3rd a liaison group from the MMTA met with representatives from the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Commission's raw material initiative launched to meet the Europe's raw material requirements in the future.

The following elements were tabled for further discussion: Antimony, Chromium, Cobalt, Germanium, Gallium, Indium, Lithium, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, rare earths, Rhenium, Titanium, Tungsten. This list is not exhaustive and may be expanded to also include Manganese, Niobium, Tantalum, Vanadium and others.

The MMTA understands the Commission's initiative to be structured in three "pillars”:

1) To coordinate sourcing of materials from non-EU countries using "raw material diplomacy”.

2) To encourage exploitation of domestic resources within EU countries.

3) To promote recycling of critical metals and materials within EU countries.

A working group within the Commission has been established to develop the initiative. However it should be noted that following the European parliamentary elections in early June 2009 there may be a change in policy. It is expected that this information will be known soon.

It is expected that a member of the Commission will be invited to brief the MMTA in due course. For more information please contact the Executive or contact the commission via their website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/contact/index_en.htm 

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