🇪🇺 The minerals inside every European drone, satellite, EV motor and wind turbine mostly pass through China. Europe has started building its way out. On 20 October, the @Europarl_EN voted 470 to 83 for a European Critical Raw Materials Centre. It would be one agency that watches supply chains, buys minerals jointly and builds shared strategic stockpiles, backed by a proposed €2 billion fund in the next EU budget. The centre is new, but the work behind it has already started: 🔹 Since 2024, an EU law, the Critical Raw Materials Act, has set goals for 2030: mine 10% of the minerals Europe uses at home, process 40% here and recycle 25% 🔹 On 9 October, the European Commission picked 46 new mining, refining and recycling projects in 16 EU countries for faster permits and help raising money 🔹 The Commission and EU countries are preparing their first joint stockpile, with tungsten, rare earths and gallium on the shortlist It’s clear why Europe needs independence in critical raw materials: in today’s world, every dependence, from trade to technology and energy, is weaponised. 🔸 Who didn’t vote for it? Most of the far-left Left group, led by 🇫🇷 La France Insoumise and 🇩🇪 Die Linke, voted against. Patriots for Europe, the group of 🇫🇷 Le Pen’s RN, 🇭🇺 Orbán’s Fidesz and 🇮🇹 Salvini’s Lega, abstained. ft.com/content/cfb2e934-0000…