Europe has moved beyond recognising metals as an industrial sector in decline. Copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, lithium, rare earths and other critical raw materials are now viewed as essential to economic security, clean energy, technology, infrastructure and defence. The challenge for Brussels is no longer political recognition. It is turning a growing policy framework into actual mining, refining, smelting and recycling capacity.
The issue was highlighted by Evangelos Mytilineos, executive chairman of METLEN Energy & Metals, as he completed two terms as president of the industry association formerly known as Eurometaux and renamed European Metals in 2026. Inge Hofkens, chief operating officer for multimetal recycling at Aurubis, took over as president on July 1, 2026, at a time when the industry’s focus is increasingly shifting from policy recognition to industrial delivery.
Europe has already experienced the consequences of weak industrial competitiveness. During the energy crisis following the disruption of Russian gas supplies, around half of European primary aluminium capacity was curtailed or shut down. More than 900,000 tonnes of production had been reduced or halted, while electricity costs for some producers increased by several hundred per cent. Although wholesale energy markets have stabilised, industrial gas and electricity prices in Europe remain significantly higher than in many competing economies. For energy-intensive industries such as aluminium, copper and zinc, this can determine whether a plant remains operational. Once production is shut down, Europe risks losing not only output but also skilled workers, supply chains and industrial know-how.
Critical Raw Materials Act Creates the Framework
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which entered into force in May 2024, established 2030 targets for increasing domestic supply. The EU aims to extract 10% of its annual strategic raw-material consumption, process 40% and obtain 25% from recycling.
The legislation also seeks to reduce dependence on individual foreign suppliers, with no more than 65% of annual consumption of a strategic raw material at a relevant processing stage intended to come from a single third country. The European Commission selected 47 Strategic Projects inside the EU and another 13 outside the bloc in 2025, covering mining, processing, refining, recycling and substitution. A second selection followed in 2026.
These measures are supported by the Clean Industrial Deal, Steel and Metals Action Plan, Affordable Energy Action Plan, RESOURCEEU and the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.
But policy designation alone does not make a project commercially viable.
A strategic mine still needs financing, infrastructure, water management, environmental approvals and customers. A refinery needs competitive energy and reliable feedstock. A recycling plant needs access to scrap and long-term buyers. Europe therefore needs to connect its policy instruments at project level.
METLEN Shows the Potential of Integrated Production
METLEN’s investment programme in Greece illustrates this approach. The company is developing a €295.5 million project linking bauxite mining, alumina refining and gallium production. The programme is designed to raise annual alumina capacity to 1.265 million tonnes, support around 2 million tonnes of bauxite production annually and establish capacity for 50 tonnes of gallium per year. The project benefits from existing industrial, energy and port infrastructure while combining large-scale alumina production with gallium, a strategic material used in semiconductors, telecommunications, renewable-energy technologies and defence.
On July 29, 2026, METLEN announced a long-term agreement covering approximately 25% of planned gallium output with a US technology customer, providing additional commercial support for the project. The example shows why strategic autonomy becomes more realistic when resources, processing, infrastructure, energy and customers are developed together.
Existing Capacity Matters Too
Europe’s challenge is not only about building new projects. Preserving viable existing production can be equally important. In Slovakia, Slovalco plans to invest €100 million to restart 75,000 tonnes of curtailed annual aluminium capacity and support more than 200 jobs. Production is expected to resume in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to European Commission approval of Slovakia’s revised compensation scheme for indirect carbon costs.
The case demonstrates the delicate balance between climate policy and industrial competitiveness. Carbon pricing is intended to encourage cleaner production, but European producers can face higher costs than international competitors before affordable low-carbon technologies and electricity are fully available.
Recycling Becomes a Strategic Industry
Recycling is another critical part of Europe’s metals strategy. Aurubis has invested €190 million in its Complex Recycling Hamburg facility, designed to process increasingly complex recycling materials and recover copper and other minor and precious metals. The company also secured a €200 million European Investment Bank loan in 2025 for recycling and copper-production investments.
Recycling cannot completely replace primary mining because much of the metal already in use remains locked into buildings, vehicles and infrastructure for decades. Europe’s objective should therefore be a system in which primary and secondary materials reinforce each other.
The EU is targeting a 24% circular-material-use rate by 2030 and is considering measures to retain more strategic scrap within Europe and stimulate demand for recycled materials.
Energy Is Still the Central Competitiveness Issue
Across mining, refining, smelting and recycling, energy remains one of Europe’s biggest challenges. The Affordable Energy Action Plan promotes power-purchase agreements, lower energy taxes and levies, improved network tariffs and faster renewable deployment. The European Investment Bank has also established a €500 million counter-guarantee facility to support industrial PPAs.
Renewable electricity contracts do not automatically provide the continuous and predictable power required by energy-intensive plants. Metals producers need firm, affordable and reliable electricity, potentially combining renewable PPAs with storage, grid capacity, interconnection and balancing mechanisms. Without that, Europe’s critical-metals strategy risks creating projects that are strategically important but commercially difficult to operate.
CBAM and Industrial Policy Must Work Together
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entered its definitive phase on January 1, 2026, covering imports including iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity.
CBAM is designed to reduce carbon leakage as free allocation under the EU Emissions Trading System is phased out between 2026 and 2034.
Protecting the European market from carbon-intensive imports does not automatically solve the problem facing European exporters. Producers selling aluminium, steel and other materials outside the EU can still face competitors operating under lower carbon and energy costs. This is why European industrial policy increasingly needs to combine carbon protection, competitive energy, financing and demand-side support.
Europe Must Measure Success in Production
The EU now has a much stronger framework for critical raw materials than it did only a few years ago. But the ultimate test will not be the number of strategies, funding schemes or projects receiving strategic status.
It will be whether Europe can keep smelters operating, restart curtailed capacity, build new refineries, expand recycling and develop responsible domestic mining. That requires competitive electricity, accessible finance, faster but credible permitting, effective carbon policy and customers willing to pay for secure European supply. Europe has already won the political argument that metals are essential to its economic future. The next stage will be measured on the ground — in tonnes of copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, lithium and other critical materials extracted, processed, refined and recycled within resilient European value chains.