The EU plans to create a central body to co-ordinate the purchasing and stockpiling of critical minerals to stop the US buying up global supplies from “under our noses”, the bloc’s industry chief has said.
Stéphane Séjourné, the EU’s executive vice-president for industrial strategy, told the Financial Times that the EU had become “collateral damage” in a spat between the US and China over access to rare earth minerals, which are crucial for defence and clean technologies.
China imposed export controls on 17 metallic elements known as rare earths in April, after the US banned the sale of some advanced technology to the country. Several EU companies were forced to shut down production lines and make lay-offs as a result of the move.
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