Activities of Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ related to 2021/2011(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a European strategy for critical raw materials
Amendments (34)
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls its demand in its resolution of 10 February 2021 on the New Circular Economy Action Plan1 for binding EU reduction targets for primary raw materials use; requests that the Commission include, without delay, explores all possible options to minimise and optimize resource consumption in its demand scenarios for critical raw materials (CRM); __________________ 1 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0040.
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the European strategy for critical raw materials, underlines the need to urgently develop Horizon Europe R&I projects on waste processing, recycling, advanced materials and substitution, processes for exploitation and processing of critical raw materials in order to significantly reduce environmental impacts;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Reiterates the opportunities that lie in the optimised use of products and services, in addition to measures that extend life-cycles and material use; in this context, stresses in particular the opportunities to combine circular economy solutions and digitalisation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop policies to support new sustainable and circular business models, such as product-as-a-service (PaaS) approaches that save resources and reduce environmental impacts while ensuring protection for consumers; Invites the Commission to facilitate such PaaS approaches in the new Sustainable Products Initiative and calls on the Commission and Member States to remove undue regulatory and fiscal barriers to them and promote the development of infrastructures that enable circularity and a sustainable digital economy;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Reiterates the need to create economic incentives and the right regulatory environment for innovation in circular solutions, materials and business models, while at the same time eliminating market-distorting subsidies and environmentally harmful subsidies, and calls for support for this in the new industrial strategy for Europe and the SME Strategy; emphasises the specific role that first movers, SMEs and start-ups are playing in the transition to a circular economy; underlines that research in sustainable materials, processes, technologies and products, as well as their industrial scale-up, can provide European companies with a global competitive advantage; emphasises that policies are needed at the EU and national levels to support the frontrunners in circular economy and circular business models;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Underlines the need to ensure sustainable and ethical sourcing of raw materials, including critical raw materials in order for metals and minerals to supply the technologies required for Green Deal goals; underlines the role of CRM in the recovery of the European economy and calls upon Member States to include a CRM strategy within their National Recovery Plans;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Notes the increased demand for producing more from less raw materials, to satisfy the aspirations of societies for prosperity, well-being and development against the backdrop of a growing global population;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Believes continued secure supply of ethically sourced raw materials to be the foundation to Europe’s material wealth and an indispensable building block for innovative and clean processes that enable Europeans to lead healthy and comfortable lives in line with the EU Green Deal;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Believes that research and innovation must lie at the centre of a successful CRM strategy; Furthermore emphasizes that innovative recycling processes and the development of new substitution materials will help revitalize Europe’s raw material industries in line with the EU Industrial Strategy and also reduce dependence on CRM imports from third countries.
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Suggests that different yet complementary options to overcome raw material criticality exist, such as increasing European supply, ensuring access to imports, circularity, diversification or substitution; notes however, that substitution is still rarely used in practice and thus requires consistent multidisciplinary research support and incentives.
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. Calls on the Commission to include SMEs in the CRM Strategy as they play a fundamental role in the Union’s economic resilience, asks the Commission to assess and factor in SME contributions systematically; furthermore underlines that relevant EU funds and support tools must be easily accessible for SMEs.
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 j (new)
Paragraph 1 j (new)
1j. Notes the need for a level-playing field for both primary and recycled materials both on EU and international level; Understands that in order to create this level playing field, the European Union needs to increase its domestic capacity of Critical Raw Materials, when possible, to a minimum of 20%.
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that CRM sourcing is tied to geographic location, highly dependent on the availability of low-carbon and renewable energy, and at risk of indirect and direct carbon leakage and exposure to unfair competition; notes the favourable circumstances for low-emission and green mining activities in the EU and further explore sourcing possibilities in CRM rich Member States;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Asks the Commission to set ambitious product design requirements for easy removal of parts or components containing CRMs; calls for ambitious minimum recycled CRM content targets; requests that the Commission propose new collection schemes to increase collection rates of waste products containing CRMs; asks the Commission to propose dedicated recycling targets for CRMs, byased on life- cycle assessments, and extending the approach suggested in the proposal for a regulation on batteries and waste batteries (COM(2020)0798) to other product groups;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the ambition of becoming a global leader in sustainable raw materials production; underlines that this requires policy coherence between all relevant policy initiatives and EU legislation.
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission to fully address illegal export of waste shipments to third countries containing CRMs in the review of the Waste Shipments Regulation; Therefore calls for overall requirements that waste products containing CRMs are only exported when treated under similar conditions to Europe in the country of destination.
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to pay attention not only to CRMs but also to the potential criticality of other raw materials needed for the twin transition; underlines that, in addition to specialised minerals, 'commonly produced' minerals, such as copper are also becoming critical as demand for them increases in a carbon neutral society. Notes that copper is also a metal where recycling is efficient but its circulation is very slow in some applications;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the European Raw Materials Alliance to prioritise CRMomote CRM from domestic extraction from existing mines and waste dumps over new mining where possible, which must be extracted and restored using the best available techniques; requests that the Commission assess as soon as possible, whether current due diligence and environmental rules are sufficientshould be reinforced to guarantee minimal environmental impact of potential new mining projects in the EU;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls the Commission to recognize that the volume of minerals, metals and materials required to enable transition away from fossil fuels far exceeds current recycling capability, and global mining production targets;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls the Commission to recognize that brown field sites (industrial waste dumps and mine tailing dams) often contain discarded CRM’s, REE and other technology minerals & metals. It must therefore encourage the documentation, evaluation, and extraction of the enclosed valuable materials, wherever possible and practicable; underlines the need for improved refining technologies in relevant R&D&I funding mechanisms to unlock this potential;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to create an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on CRMs; highlights that the projects should unlock the unused potential in CRM rich countries where large untapped sources of natural graphite are present;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises that the EU raw materials mining and processing sectors are at the global spearhead of sustainable processing and need adequate funding possibilities to sustain or further improve this position through innovation and scale-up of not yet market ready technologies, for example through an IPCEI on Raw Materials for the Green Deal.
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to acknowledge the high demand of fossil energy in the CRM value chains and address the need for energy transition towards renewable energy in the mining and refining sector;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recognises the need of upskilling and reskilling people in order to enable professionals to transition from 'brown' skills to 'green' skills.
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the European Commission to increase outreach efforts on the topic of sustainable mining, in order to improve public understanding and acceptance.
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that mining permits should include requirements for the proper recovery of all CRMseconomically and technically recoverable CRMs as well as the highly important management of CRM mining waste; requests that the Commission urgently implement Parliament’s demands in its resolution of 27 April 2017 on implementation of the Mining Waste Directive2 ; __________________ 2 OJ C 298, 23.8.2018, p. 132.
Amendment 147 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Encourages a comprehensive assessment of the mining sector’ssteps of the extractive cycle that could be inclusionded in the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive; furthermore, based on this assessment, invites the Commission to review Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (IED).
Amendment 167 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that mining should be forbidden in nature conservation areasRecalls that according to international recommendations by the IUCN, environmentally damaging industrial activities and infrastructure development should be prohibited in all categories of protected area, therefore believes that mining should be prohibited in protected areas, which at the EU level corresponds to those areas comprised within the Natura 2000 Network; calls on the Commission to evaluate legislative optionshow to ensure that local communities are fully involved in the permit procedures for new industrial and new mining projects and that are compensated if necessary.
Amendment 176 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to develop Sustainable Finance taxonomy criteria which enables the transition to a EU climate-neutral scenario whilst also enhancing European Resilience and Open Strategic autonomy; realises that diversification is key to the security of supply of CRMs and that the mining and processing sectors are necessary for supplying Green Deal technologies.
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes that while smart product design, the reuse of materials, recycled sources and substitution can significantly reduce primary demand, responsible and sustainable sourcing is needed when supply cannot be met; further highlights that the development of recycling can be used to respond to future raw material needs;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Notes the opportunity for the development of battery value chain from the responsible and sustainable sourcing of critical raw materials, such as graphite, cobalt and lithium, from new projects in northern Europe;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the Commission’s plan to deploy Earth-observation programmes and remote sensing for resource exploration, operations and post-closure environmental management; points out that in-service regulatory oversight can be enhanced with the use of remote sensing methods;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Underlines the importance of maintaining and further developing expertise and skills in mining and processing technologies in the EU, especially in CRM rich countries where large untapped sources of natural graphite are present; notes that raw materials currently mined in Europe need to be often exported to Asia for refining, as the relevant know-how and technology can be found there, pointing out to many ways dependencies can manifest themselves;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Reiterates its call in its resolution of 25 March 2021 on a new EU-Africa Strategy – a partnership for sustainable and inclusive development8 for fair and sustainable exploitation of CRMs in Africa, which account for 49 % of EU imports from Africa, and; supports the Commission in its endeavours to conclude new CRM partnerships with African countries strengthening the value chain in Africa to be ethically, environmentally and technologically more sustainable and enable EU-support incapacity building; _________________ 8 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0108.