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My third point – and that is what I am talking about – you need the components and the reliable supply chains. That also goes for critical raw materials. That is a topic for the whole industry. A few words on that one: We have learnt a very bitter lesson with our over-dependency on Russian gas, on a single supplier, where we thought it would be reliable. You know the history around it. We have learnt a bitter lesson, but we have completely diversified away from Russia, and we have been able to invest massively in alternative energy suppliers, like renewable energy. The next topic where we have to be very careful are the critical raw materials. Here, the challenge is that China, over 20 to 30 years, has strategically organised the whole critical raw materials scene globally. China basically owns the vast majority of mines worldwide, gets the raw material, processes it in China, basically has a monopoly for some of the critical raw materials and is supplying the world. Here too, we are very active. Most of my travels to other regions of the world are accompanied by signing contracts, MoUs, you name it, for critical raw materials. Where we are different from China is that we tell our new partners: ‘Look, we do not want to take the raw product, we help you to establish the value chain locally in your country. So the added value stays with you. But we want to diversify the supply, and we want to strengthen our supply chains.’ So, more suppliers, so that you lower the risk of over-dependency as it is here, and this also goes specifically for the critical raw materials.
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Source: European Commission
Speaker: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Format: Speech
China Policy Research 