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Critical Raw Materials Act

The Critical Raw Materials Act sets EU 2030 benchmarks for extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials – including copper and aluminium. On this page: stage of the Regulation and its amendment, upcoming dates, acts from the Law register and the full implementation analysis.

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Reviewed 24.10.2026 · next review by 23.11.2026

EU
Raw materials
Mining
Smelting
Recycling

At a glance

Regulation 2024/1252 applies; amendment COM(2025) 946 – EP–Council negotiations after the EP vote of 20.10.2026.

10 / 40 / 25%EU 2030 benchmarks: extraction, processing and recycling of annual consumption of strategic raw materialsReg. (EU) 2024/1252, Art. 5
≤ 65%maximum share of a single third country in the supply of each strategic raw materialReg. (EU) 2024/1252, Art. 5
106strategic projects recognised by the Commission (25.03.2025, 04.06.2025, 09.10.2026)European Commission, C(2026) 8051
17 / 34strategic / critical raw materials; copper and aluminium strategic, zinc, lead and tin not listedReg. (EU) 2024/1252, Annexes I and II

Procedure stage and dates

2024/1252Application · since 23.05.2024
2025/0385(COD)Trilogues · since 20.10.2026

Stages: 1. Announced2. Consultation3. Proposal4. Parliament and Council5. Trilogues6. Adoption and publication7. Application8. Review

Upcoming dates

24.11.2026deadline for the study on the recovery of critical raw materials from extractive waste (Art. 27(3))Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)
24.05.2027earliest date for the publication of information on recycled content in permanent magnets (Art. 29(1))Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)
24.05.2028application of Arts 40 and 41 (Art. 49(2)); deadline for the Commission’s evaluation of the regulation (Art. 48(1))Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)

Chamber position

No documents have been published on this dossier.

Dossier documents and sources in the Library →

Acts in the Law register

EU policy

Critical Raw Materials Act – implementation

Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 on critical raw materials has been in force since 23 May 2024. Copper and aluminium are strategic raw materials under it. Implementation, the amendment, deadlines and strategic projects – based solely on official documents.

In force since 23.05.2024Amendment in procedureRegulation (EU) 2024/1252 · Art. 114 TFEU

The Regulation is in force – implementation and amendment under way

The Commission has recognised 106 strategic projects in total (25.03.2025, 04.06.2025 and 09.10.2026). On 3 December 2025 it presented the RESourceEU plan and amending proposal COM(2025) 946; the Council adopted its position on 4 March 2026, and on 20 October 2026 the European Parliament adopted its amendments and referred the file for interinstitutional negotiations.

Strategic projects

106

47 in the EU + 13 outside + 46 in the EU; 6 involving Poland

As of 24.10.2026

Procedure: Regulation and amendment

Diagram 1. Procedure: Regulation 2024/1252 and amendment COM(2025) 946

The amendment provides, among other things, for the Commission to identify large companies using strategic raw materials (Art. 24), a wider scope for permanent magnet labelling (Art. 28) and pre-consumer waste counting towards recycled content in magnets.

2030 benchmarks and raw material lists

Diagram 2. 2030 benchmarks and raw material lists

Benchmarks refer to the EU’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials; the extraction benchmark applies “to the extent possible in light of the Union’s reserves”. Delegated recycling benchmarks for waste streams – by 1.01.2027 (Art. 5(3)). Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Art. 5, Annexes I and II.

Implementation timeline

Diagram 3. Implementation timeline 2024–2030

Dates take account of the corrigendum (OJ L 2024/90330 of 03.06.2024), which among other things moved the evaluation of the Regulation to 24.05.2029. Circularity programmes are due 2 years after Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1116 entered into force (16.06.2026). The “today” line moves automatically.

Relevance for non-ferrous metals

Recycling and waste streams

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1116 of 26.05.2026 lists waste streams with critical raw material recovery potential, including construction and demolition waste – aluminium, aluminium alloys, copper, copper alloys and cables – and aluminium components and wiring harnesses from vehicles. Member States adopt national circularity programmes by 16.06.2028 (Art. 26).

Scrap – RESourceEU announcements

The RESourceEU plan (COM(2025) 945, 03.12.2025) announces that by Q2 2026 the Commission will propose targeted measures for aluminium scrap and export restrictions on permanent magnet scrap; similar measures for copper scrap are to be considered after further monitoring. The Commission also aims to close loopholes for copper and aluminium scrap declared as products.

Strategic projects involving Poland

2025: POLVOLT (Elemental Battery Metals, recycling – incl. Ni, Cu, Co), the Puławy rare earths separation plant (Mkango Resources). 2026: Retków-Grodziszcze deposit (KGHM Polska Miedź, copper extraction), Integrated Recycling Smelter (KGHM, copper and nickel recycling), Urban mining (TDM Electronics, recycling) and CRM4Defence (Leonardo, recycling in Italy, Poland, the UK and France).

Implementation in Poland

On 2.09.2026 the Council of Ministers launched the national critical raw materials exploration programme (Art. 19; EU deadline: 24.05.2025), run by PIG-PIB until 2033. Draft Act on ensuring the national economy’s access to raw materials, including critical raw materials (UC83, Ministry of Climate and Environment) – planned government adoption: Q3 2026. Poland is represented on the Critical Raw Materials Board by the Ministry’s Department of Geology.

Obligations of large companies

By 24.05.2025 Member States were to identify large companies manufacturing, among others, batteries, permanent magnets and other products using strategic raw materials; these carry out a supply-chain risk assessment at least every 3 years (Art. 24). The amendment moves identification of these companies to the Commission.

Permanent magnets

Products with permanent magnets will be labelled (Art. 28 – implementing act on the label due 24.11.2025 per the corrigendum), and those placing them on the market will disclose the share of recovered materials in magnets – from 24.05.2027 or 2 years after the delegated act, whichever is later (Art. 29).

Next steps

Amendment COM(2025) 946

Parliament adopted its amendments on 20.10.2026 (T10-0343/2026) and referred the file back to ITRE for interinstitutional negotiations; the next stage is trilogues with the Council, which adopted its position on 04.03.2026.

Aluminium scrap – trade measure

Initiative 16192: call for evidence 19.12.2025–31.01.2026 (142 responses); Commission adoption planned for Q4 2026.

Critical Raw Materials Centre

Legislative initiative in the Commission work programme 2026 (Q2 2026, Art. 114 TFEU). Consultation 19.05–29.07.2026 (138 responses); according to the European Parliament (20.09.2026) no proposal has yet been tabled.

Next call for projects

The Commission announced the next call for strategic projects towards the end of 2026 (press release of 09.10.2026). By 24.05.2027 – review of the strategic and critical raw material lists.

Key facts

Act: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11.04.2024 establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials
Publication: OJ L 2024/1252, 03.05.2024; in force 23.05.2024
Corrigendum: OJ L 2024/90330, 03.06.2024 – incl. dates in Arts 27, 28, 31, 44 and 47 (24.11.2025) and 48–49 (24.05.2029)
Lists: 17 strategic (Annex I), 34 critical (Annex II)
Amendment: COM(2025) 946, procedure 2025/0385(COD)
As of: 24.10.2026

Sources

Information note based on official documents of the EU and the Polish government; not a legal interpretation. The binding text is the Regulation as published in the Official Journal of the EU, together with the corrigendum.

Change log

24.10.2026Dates from the Law register aligned with the corrigendum: application of Arts 40 and 41 and the evaluation (Art. 48) – 24.05.2029; the 24.11.2026 deadline concerns Art. 27(3) only.
24.10.2026Dossier page: procedure stage, upcoming dates and acts from the Law register.
20.10.2026Implementation analysis: 2030 benchmarks, raw material lists, 106 strategic projects, amendment COM(2025) 946.

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Contact on this dossier: biuro@igmnir.pl