Amendments to the Critical Raw Materials Act
PURPOSE: to amend the critical raw materials act (CRMA) to guarantee access to secure and sustainable critical raw materials and strengthen the EU’s economic security.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EC) No 2024/1252) provided the EU with the objectives and a first set of tools to ensure that the EU industry has access to a secure and sustainable supply of the critical raw materials (CRMs). CRMs are needed to manufacture the strategic technologies crucial for the clean and digital transition, as well as for defence and aerospace applications. Yet, since the CRMA’s entry into force on 23 May 2024, the geo-politisation of critical raw materials supply has been heightened by a series of Chinese export restrictions on rare earths elements and other critical raw materials.
It is within that context that the Commission adopted on 3 Decembre 2025 the RESourceEU action plan to accelerate the achievement of the CRMA and reinforce the European Economic Security Communication. To attain the objectives set in the RESourceEU Action Plan, Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 should therefore be amended accordingly.
CONTENT: therefore, the Commission is proposing targeted amendments to Regulation (EC) No 2024/1252 to streamline, clarify and simplify some of the rules to improve circularity, to increase recycling capacity and to strengthen the secondary market for critical raw materials. It includes changes to the implementation plans for Member States, by removing the obligation for Member States to identify large companies and transferring this obligation to the Commission.
More specifically, the proposal:
- modifies the number of cut-off dates for open calls for applications for Strategic projects under the CRMA;
- streamlines the obligation to identify large companies by transferring it from national administrations to the Commission;
- requires the Commission to notify large companies of their obligations;
- clarifies the obligation for large companies and the aspects to consider for their risk preparedness assessment;
- clarifies the obligations that large companies need to comply with for the mitigation measures;
- strengthens the obligation for large companies to maintain their board informed of the risk assessment;
- allows the Commission to request information from large companies on their compliance with the risk assessment obligations, and empowers the Commission to specify if needed the mitigations measures for large companies through delegated acts;
- expands the list of products containing permanent magnets to be considered by the Commission for their labelling;
- clarifies and expands the scope of the critical raw materials act by including pre-consumer waste of permanent magnets to enable more comprehensive action by the Commission is more comprehensive for recycling permanent magnets.