Classifying critical materials: A review of European approaches

Abstract

This article examines the approach to quantifying critical materials taken by the European Commission (EC) in its 2010 and 2014 studies. It notes that these reports represent positive steps in enhancing understanding of, and providing centralised solutions to, raw material issues in a European context, and identifies the simplistic criticality matrix approach, and selection of credible data sources, as important strengths. However, numerous problems, such as data availability, and the omission of important factors, notably consideration of the supply chain and environment, were also identified. As such, the article concludes that such studies should serve as only a first step towards the provision of suitable evidence base for advising on policy, and that it should be a priority of the EC to improve data collection and quality.