Activities of Marek BELKA related to 2021/2011(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A European strategy for critical raw materials (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a European strategy for critical raw materials
Amendments (7)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the new EU Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials and stresses that EU trade policy can play a key role as a vehicle for improving EU access to these materials; notes that the EU 2020 reviewed list contains 30 critical raw materials including four newly added; notes that the COVID-19 outbreak has exposed the lack of resilience of global value chains for certain key products, showing the need for more robust and resilient sustainable supply chains for critical raw materials; notes that the monitoring of commodity dependencies and securing access to critical raw materials should be one of the key elements in the implementation of EU’s open strategic autonomy;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that demand for raw materials is projected to double by 2050 and that the EU is highly reliant on non-EU countries for critical raw materials, making diversified sourcing, as well as processing and refining, essential to increase the EU’s security of supply; calls, therefore, on the Commission to diversify thpromote diversification of the sustainable and responsible supply sources of critical raw materials as much as possible, and reduce current reliance on a few countries; calls on the Commission to focus also on securing supplies by establishing strategic stocks and appropriate stockpiling of critical raw materials in Europe, particularly in light of the uncertainties linked to the evolution of the geopolitical situation worldwide and the potential trade tensions with rich non- EU producer countries;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls in this respect for increased cooperation of investors and all relevant stakeholders, including industrial actors along the value chain, Member States and regions, trade unions, civil society, research and technology organisations, investors and NGOs within the sectors of EU economy most affected by bottlenecks in critical raw materials supply either using the framework offered by the European Raw Materials Alliance or forming sector specific industry and stakeholder alliances to address shortages in supply of critical raw materials; such cooperation should aim at analysing supply chain bottlenecks, strategic stockpiling of critical resources and funding research on exploration of new sourcing sites and technologies;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that future EU free trade agreements (FTAs) should include a specific focus on raw materials; calls on the Commission to further enhance the enforcement of FTAs, using all EU trade policy tools available including the ability to tackle any non-compliance by partners through unilateral sanctions, to ensure that commitments and obligations on sourcing of critical raw materials are met by trading partners; calls on the Commission to strengthen cooperation on sustainable sourcing of raw materials with third countries, under existing EU policies and instruments, including enlargement, neighbourhood, development and cooperation policies; calls on the Commission to form and strengthen strategic partnerships with sourcing countries, as well as further reinforce the cooperation within the framework of the EU-US-Japan Conference on Critical Materials with enhanced cooperation of Australia and Canada and other like- minded sourcing countries;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3f. Underlines that any new sourcing activities of companies operating in the EU market have to adhere to the Conflict Minerals Regulation, rules on responsible sourcing described in the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, as well as comply with the international standards of responsible commodity sourcing and be subject to a mandatory and binding due diligence throughout the entire supply chain to combat child and forced labour and other breaches of human and workers’ rights;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that a fully functioning rules-based multilateral trading system is also key to ensuring open trade flows of critical raw materials; renews its call on the Commission, in this regard, to pursue its efforts for the modernisation, strengthening and substantial reactivation of the World Trade Organization to fight distortions of international trade and guarantee effective competition worldwide; calls on the Commission to use the international fora to curtail distortive export restrictions of critical raw materials, imposing of export tariffs and distortive taxes on investment in critical raw materials sourcing which block open and fair trade in critical raw materials;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission, the European Investment Bank and other European Union institutions to promote and support investment in new critical raw materials sourcing, processing and refining sites in cooperation with the countries in the European Neighbourhood and the Global South (with special attention to the Western Balkans, Africa and Latin America) as a part of a long-term international sourcing strategy which engages European and international partners and SMEs; stresses that the investments should be compliant with the EU taxonomy for environmentally sustainable economic activities and that we should only support responsible mining practices that prevent environment degradation and protect the interests of local communities and international human rights standards;