The European Commission today (28 May) announced it has forged its 13th trade partnership designed to source critical raw materials from outside the bloc, with Australia.
Valdis Dombrovskis and Thierry Breton, respectively commissioners for trade and the internal market, appeared alongside signatory Australian trade minister Don Farrell, claiming the deal was “based on mutual benefits” — enabling the EU to diversify supply, and the development of Canberra’s domestic critical minerals sector.
Australia is one of the world’s leading producers of aluminium ore, cobalt, copper, iron ore, lithium, lead, rare earth elements, uranium, and zinc, all of which deemed indispensable for the manufacturing of batteries fit to power electric vehicles (EVs) — a flagship EU executive ambition under the so-called European Green Deal to decarbonise transport and slash carbon dioxide and air pollution levels.
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