The European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials, as a stakeholder platform that brings together representatives from industry, public services, academia and NGOs, continues to be the best available tool to develop a new SIP for 2020 – 2030. It provides high-level guidance on innovative approaches to challenges related to raw materials.

Bringing together various players is important because raw materials supply is characterised by interlinked complex value chains. Therefore, raw materials production processes should not be considered in isolation. Even small regulatory changes can have a positive or negative impact far beyond the raw materials sector.
Taken together, raw materials and their directly related industries in 2012 provided EUR 280 billion of added value and more than four million jobs. However, the economic importance of the raw materials sector goes far beyond the economic activities strictly related to the extractive and processing industries. Looking at the metals value chain alone, the secure supply of raw materials is essential for jobs in many downstream manufacturing sectors. These include the production of fabricated metal products, electronics, and machinery and equipment. It is estimated that more than 11 million jobs are affected, equal to 40 % of the jobs and value added from the EU’s entire manufacturing sector. More than 11 million jobs in manufacturing industries depend on the secure supply of raw materials.

A series of elements is required for the raw materials sector since it is the basis for many value chains in Europe, therefore building new alliances and strategies for different value chains is required. The document below defines the key measures for the three pillars of the Raw Materials Initiative as well as the way forward to strengthen the existing framework and institutions.