In order to secure the sustainable access to primary and secondary raw materials and particularly Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) in the EU, there is a need for an expert advice to better understand the value chains of the raw materials screened in the CRMs assessment. There is also the need for foresight studies in order to provide guidelines for future R&D&I actions. Making this information freely available, through SCRREEN2 knowledge database and the EC Raw Materials Information System RMIS, will support decision-making at the EU level on the CRM strategies.
In the context of energy, mobility and digital transitions, and even more since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the sovereignty and resilience of the EU on raw materials supply is part of political, economical and societal debates. Constantly develop the understanding of the raw materials value chains, in particular CRM, and the geopolitical movements which may strenghten the european vulnerabilities, is key to set up actions aiming at reducing EU dependence. SCREEN2 supports in that sense the objectives set by the CRM Act.
It also represents a relevant mean for supporting the industrial sectors in carrying out stress tests at the level of value chains (article 19) by the Commission and the Member States, and at the level of certain large companies (article 23).
In line with the achievements of SCRREEN, SCRREEN2 aims at expanding its expert network in order to cover all the raw materials screened in the CRM 2023 assessment. The work was initiated in 2019 to support the EC and SCRREEN network gathers today experts on primary and secondary resources: production, including exploration, mining, processing, recycling and refining; substitution of CRM; raw materials markets; prospective for demand and supply; materials flows; socio-economic analysis. The network also covers several strategic value chains and end-use sectors, including batteries, e-mobility, renewable energy, electronics, defence and aerospace.
Based on the experts network and the systemic analysis of the value chains, SCRREEN2 overall objective is to provide up-to-date information to support the European Commission in decision-making for strengthening the materials value chains and driving R&D&I further actions. For this purpose, it relies on the production of factsheets dedicated to each CRM foresight reports. These productions, published and accessible to all on SCRREEN2 website, intend to be a robust and insightful tool for the industries and generally all stakeholders involved or facing issues related to critical raw materials.
