EU Critical Raw Materials Lists: Review Cycle and Method
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The European Commission must review and, if necessary, update the EU's lists of critical and strategic raw materials by 24 May 2027 and at least every three years after that. A raw material is critical if its supply risk is at least 1 and its economic importance at least 2.8, or if it is on the strategic list. Strategic raw materials are chosen on strategic importance, forecast demand growth and difficulty of increasing production. The Commission amends the annexes by delegated act.
24 May 2027
deadline for the first review of both lists under Articles 3(3) and 4(3)
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
1.0 and 2.8
supply risk and economic importance thresholds for a critical raw material
Source: Article 4(2)
How have the EU lists changed since 2011?
The EU list has grown from 14 critical raw materials in 2011 to 34 in 2023, and the number of candidate materials screened has grown with it. The 2023 assessment, prepared by DG GROW as the fifth in the series, screened 70 candidates that cover 87 individual materials and fed directly into the Critical Raw Materials Act.
| Assessment | Candidates screened | Critical raw materials |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 41 | 14 |
| 2014 | 54 | 20 |
| 2017 | 78 | 27 |
| 2020 | 83 | 30 |
| 2023 | 70 candidates (87 individual materials) | 34, plus 17 strategic raw materials |
Sources: Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023 (candidate counts) and the Commission's critical raw materials page (list sizes).
How does the EU decide which materials are critical or strategic?
The EU uses two different methods, one for each list. The critical list uses two indices with fixed thresholds, while the strategic list ranks materials on three criteria set out in Annex I of the Act.
| List | What is measured | Test |
|---|---|---|
| Critical (Annex II) | Economic importance: end-use shares in each two-digit NACE sector, multiplied by the sector's share of value added and adjusted by a substitution index. | Economic importance of at least 2.8. |
| Critical (Annex II) | Supply risk: concentration of global supply or EU sourcing (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index) weighted by World Bank governance indicators and a trade parameter for export taxes, quotas and bans, adjusted for the end-of-life recycling input rate, substitution and import reliance. | Supply risk of at least 1.0. A strategic material is automatically critical. |
| Strategic (Annex I) | Strategic importance for the green and digital transitions, defense and aerospace: the number of strategic technologies using the material, the amount needed, and expected global demand for those technologies. | Among the highest scores. |
| Strategic (Annex I) | Forecast demand growth (global demand forecast against current global production) and difficulty of increasing production (production scale, reserves-to-production ratio and project lead times). | Among the highest scores. |
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Articles 3 and 4 and Annexes I and II.
What changed between 2020 and 2023?
Four materials joined the critical list in 2023, two left it and two were added as strategic materials that fall below the thresholds. Arsenic became critical because its economic importance rose from 2.6 to 3.0. Feldspar became critical because imports from Türkiye doubled to supply 51% of EU needs. Helium, critical in 2017 but not in 2020, returned when its economic importance rose, and manganese became critical when EU production stopped in Bulgaria and Hungary and imports concentrated on South Africa (41%) and Gabon (39%). Natural rubber and indium fell below the thresholds, and copper and nickel are on the list as strategic raw materials although they do not meet the supply risk threshold. Those moves account for the rise from 30 to 34.
What is scheduled after 2027?
The 24 May 2027 review is the first under the Act, and the Commission then repeats it at least every three years. The European Critical Raw Materials Board can ask for an earlier review of the strategic list on the basis of monitoring and stress testing. The Act also tells the Commission to assess in its first update whether synthetic graphite should remain a strategic raw material. A separate deadline falls on the same date: companies selling products with permanent magnets must disclose recycled content from 24 May 2027, or two years after the delegated act on calculation rules if that is later, as covered on the EU Act overview.
Frequently asked questions
How often does the EU update its critical raw materials list?
The Commission must review and, if necessary, update the critical raw materials list by 24 May 2027 and at least every three years after that. The strategic list follows the same schedule, and the Board can request an earlier review.
What thresholds make a raw material critical in the EU?
A raw material is critical in the EU when it reaches a supply risk of 1 and an economic importance of 2.8 in the Commission's assessment. Any strategic raw material is also critical, even if it falls below those thresholds, as copper and nickel do.
Which materials were added to the EU list in 2023?
The 2023 assessment made arsenic, feldspar, helium and manganese critical, and added copper and nickel as strategic raw materials. Natural rubber and indium dropped below the thresholds, so the list rose from 30 to 34 materials.
Who updates the EU critical raw materials lists?
The European Commission updates the lists by delegated acts that amend Annex I and Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2024/1252. The Commission carries out the criticality assessment, and the European Critical Raw Materials Board can ask for an earlier review of the strategic list after monitoring and stress testing.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Articles 3 and 4 and Annexes I and II. Read on EUR-Lex
- European Commission: Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023, Final Report (Grohol and Veeh, DG GROW). Executive summary and Table 12 read as a PDF
- European Commission: Critical raw materials. List sizes for 2011 to 2023 and the commitment to update at least every three years
