24 Jan 2025

Setting standards for critical raw materials

State of play and future prospects

Edoardo Righetti / Vasileios Rizos / Marika Moreschi

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As the EU seeks to secure access to Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), CRM-related technical standardisation has been gaining increasing policy attention. Technical standards are essential for the private sector to comply with emerging regulatory requirements, including those recently introduced by the Critical Raw Materials Act. They are also crucial for disseminating significant technological advancements in the CRM sector, notably on recycling, while ensuring their benefits are distributed fairly and sustainably. In the current highly competitive geopolitical environment, technical standards are also increasingly leveraged to favour domestic industrial interests and priorities. 

This CEPS In-Depth Analysis examines the role, state and future prospects of CRMs-related standardisation from an EU perspective. It begins with an overview of the key benefits and actors in both the EU and global technical standardisation system. It then maps key recent developments and initiatives in CRM standardisation, in the EU and globally. Drawing on consultations with experts, it then identifies three fundamental risks and challenges – the limited participation of EU stakeholders and experts, specific content gaps in recycling and traceability, and a highly fragmented ESG standardisation landscape. Finally, it provides some policy recommendations to help address these challenges and to enhance the EU’s role in CRM standardisation.

 

This paper was prepared in the context of the EIT Raw Materials-KIC INSPIRES project (Proposal Number: 20090), which is co-funded by the EU.