On 28 May 2024, the EU and Australia signed a bilateral partnership to intensify their collaboration on critical and strategic minerals. The new raw materials partnership sets out the framework conditions for establishing secure value chains for critical and strategic minerals.

On the European side, the diversification of sources of supply for critical raw materials is being driven forward, while Australia is delighted with the new client, which may continue to have a positive impact on the recent development of the Australian critical minerals sector.

The agreement covers the following areas of the value chain: exploration, extraction, processing, refining, recycling, and the processing of the mineral waste produced. To minimize harmful environmental impacts, cooperation in the area of research and innovation is to be intensified. There are also plans to fund digital technologies and services in the mining sector. High safety standards will be implemented to protect workers in the production of critical minerals.

A joint roadmap with concrete measures is to be drawn up this year to put the agreement into practice as quickly as possible. In addition, a potential free trade agreement between the EU and Australia has been under discussion for a while.

Source: DIHK (in German), European Commission