OpenLobby.EU
Explore

European Foundation for Democracy ASBL

EFD

The European Foundation for Democracy (EFD) is a policy institute whose work focuses on prevention of radicalisation.

Lobbying Activity

Response to European Critical Raw Materials Act

24 Nov 2022

Recent international events, including the coronavirus pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine, have illustrated clearly that supply chains for critical goods are highly connected and carefully organized on a global scale. These supply chains count on cooperation on a broad scale, from sourcing raw materials to transporting them to final assembly or refinement. They involve a multitude of participants worldwide in countries of various stages of economic maturity and with a range of attitudes and actions regarding human rights. Disruptions to this carefully balanced supply chain can not only be inconvenient to European consumers, but national security risks for countries, especially when it comes to materials such as cobalt, graphite, copper, nickel, lithium, and certain rare earth elements used in the manufacture of electronics, clean energy, and aerospace and automotive products. In response to the economic security threats these recent disruptions have posed, the European Commission is now appropriately considering a Proposed Directive to establish legislation that would secure the EUs access to critical raw materials (CRMs). The measure, called the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, could improve the stability for supply chains that are important on an economic level and generally address the significant threat that China poses to Europes economic well-being. Among the objectives, the Act would support the EUs green and digital transitions by assuring that the raw materials necessary for these transitions are available from a robust array of sources, not controlled by single actors that act as de facto monopolies. In addition to bolstering economic security, the measure would have meaningful impact on efforts to avoid economic relationships with countries that engage in the violation of human rights. This includes China, whose state-owned companies profit from Uyghur slave labour as Beijing engages in anti-competitive government intervention that undercuts competition. By combating Chinas grip on a number of raw materials, including rare earth elements, cobalt, lithium, and graphite, the EU can make important progress in creating a values-based approach to sourcing materials from mineral-rich regions in a more ethical way. Focusing on cooperation with different countries and regions and partnering with publicly traded multinational corporations to access secure supply chains can help ensure that the EU is not supporting slave labour, all while weakening the general threat China poses. The European Foundation for Democracy cares deeply about these issues, which prompted our organisation to file comments in response to the European Commission's call for evidence on this issue.
Read full response

Meeting with James Morrison (Cabinet of Commissioner Julian King)

27 Oct 2016 · Prevention of Radicalisation

Meeting with Daniel Braun (Cabinet of Commissioner Věra Jourová)

29 Aug 2016 · Possible cooperation in combating racism, xenophobia