CRMA

Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (CRMA) addresses the supply security of the materials EV batteries and traction motors depend on. It sets capacity benchmarks and a permitting framework rather than emissions limits.

What it requires

• 2030 benchmarks for each strategic raw material, against annual EU consumption (Article 5): at least 10% from EU extraction, at least 40% processed in the EU, at least 25% from EU recycling, and no more than 65% of consumption at any relevant processing stage from a single third country.
• A Strategic Projects designation with time-bound permitting (Article 11): permit-granting capped at 27 months for extraction projects and 15 months for processing and recycling projects.
• A list of 17 strategic raw materials (Annex I) and 34 critical raw materials (Annex II). The strategic list includes battery-grade lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and natural graphite, plus rare earth elements for permanent magnets used in EV traction motors.

Why it matters for the EV market

Every cathode, anode and magnet input for a European-built EV sits on the strategic list, and the EU forecasts lithium demand rising up to twelvefold and rare earths sixfold by 2030. The 65% single-country cap directly targets dependence on dominant processors. The Act drives hiring in mining permitting, raw-material sourcing strategy, recycling capacity build-out and supply-chain risk auditing. Source: European Commission.