Commission proposes to tackle raw-material challenges

According to a statement, excessive volatility of prices on all major commodity markets occurs at a time when the competitiveness of European industry depends on efficient and secure access to raw materials.

The recent volatility in commodity prices threatens to increase inflation and global raw-material markets are said to be becoming increasingly distorted owing to protectionist measures.

The European Commission proposes actions to improve the regulation, functioning and transparency of financial and commodity markets.

It also calls for the swift implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative adopted in 2008. The communication on commodities and raw materials contributes to the Europe 2020 initiative entitled ’A resource-efficient Europe’ that was adopted last month.

The European Non-Ferrous Metals industry today welcomed the issuing of the Communication on Raw Materials in a follow-up to the 2008 Communication and calls for the swift and concrete implementation of the objectives and actions identified.

They include regularly updating the list of 14 critical raw materials already identified by the European Commission and monitoring the development of access to critical raw materials with the view to identifying priority actions.