Joint report: Fifth meeting of the Bilateral Dialogue on Raw Materials

November 15, 2022 (Brussels)

The fifth meeting of the Bilateral Dialogue on Raw Materials established under Article 25.4 of CETA took place in-person on November 15, 2022, hosted by the European Commission.

1. Opening remarks and policy priorities

Policy updates focused on the latest developments on raw materials’ policy and strategies from both parties, including:

• Update from European Commission on the preparations for the elaboration of the European Critical Raw Materials Act, on strategic international partnerships and on the Horizon Europe programme for raw materials for 2021-2022.
• Update from Natural Resources Canada on the Critical Minerals Strategy and the latest investment policy developments.

2. Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials – progress of its implementation and new action plan

Both parties provided an overview of the partnership goals, areas of cooperation and express appreciation of the positive results that the Strategic Partnership is delivering. The parties adopted the Progress Report for the Action Plan for 2021- 2022 and endorsed the Action Plan for 2022-2023.

The first year of the Partnership delivered various successful engagement activities, including business-to-business networking events, policy collaboration, and research innovation exchanges. There were also several project announcements in 2022, both in the European Union (EU) and in Canada, highlighting the potential to further secure supply chains between Canada and the EU.

The overarching goal of the strategic partnership is to advance the value, security, and sustainability of trade and investment into resilient raw material and downstream value chains between Canada and the EU. It comprises three areas of collaboration: (1) integration of Canada-EU raw materials value chains; (2) science, technology, and innovation collaboration; and (3) environmental, social, and governance criteria and standards. This partnership is established within the mandate of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The framework of the partnership was adopted after its political endorsement at the EU-Canada Summit, on June 14-15, 2021.

The discussion on the Progress Report highlighted the main deliverables of the Strategic Partnership in 2021-2022 under the three pillars. A new Action Plan for 2022-2023 was endorsed that contains actions on strengthening the business opportunities for the Canadian and EU businesses, closer cooperation in R&I, cooperation in international fora and on ESG standards. The EU Member States and the Canadian provinces and territories in attendance had the opportunity to intervene.

3. Coordination in international fora

Both parties recognized the need to ensure alignment and coordination in other dialogues and initiatives that are increasingly focusing on critical minerals, such as in the working groups established under G7 and the International Energy Agency.

4. Research and Innovation

Both parties presented the research and innovation programmes in raw materials. In the first year of the Partnership, research exchanges took place between Natural Resources Canada and European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) on critical raw minerals. Canada highlighted work underway on mining value from waste, critical mineral circularity and the joint progress made on tracing net-zero battery minerals.

5. Closing remarks and next steps

Both parties agreed to continue this dialogue to track progress of the Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials, and to strengthen the existing collaboration. The next meeting of the dialogue will be decided early 2023.

Participants

EU:

European Commission

DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)

DG TRADE

Joint Research Centre (JRC)

European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA)

Member States

Belgium, Government of Flanders

Germany, Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union in Brussels 

Finland, Geological Survey of Finland

France, Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères

Poland, Ministerstwo Klimatu i Środowiska

Portugal, Direção Geral de Energia e Geologia

Canada:

Government of Canada

Natural Resources Canada, Lands and Minerals Sector

Provincial Governments

Quebec, Délégation générale du Québec à Bruxelles

Others

European Raw Materials Alliance

European Battery Alliance