GERMANY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stefan Altenschmidt, Pauline Müller and Ina Schwanke, Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
The CRMA sets the following EU targets for 2030: • 10% of strategic raw material demand should come from EU mining; • 40% of further processing should take place in the EU; • 25% of demand should be covered by recycling in the EU; and • no dependence on more than 65% of imports from a single third country. To implement these targets, the CRMA accelerates approval procedures, strengthens exploration and the circular economy, and improves risk monitoring. Member states and the European Commission must implement these measures. The CRMA also requires central contact points in the member states to co- ordinate approval procedures and provide administra - tive support to project promoters. Projects for the extraction, processing or recycling of strategic raw materials can be recognised by the European Commission as strategic projects. These are given priority and benefit from faster approvals. As of November 2025, the EU has recognised 60 such strategic projects (within and outside the EU), four of which are in Germany. The German projects mainly concern the battery raw materials lithium and graph - ite. Under the CRMA, EU member states are required to identify and evaluate a national exploration pro - gramme with information on the potential of critical and strategic raw materials. In consultation with the federal states, the German government drew up the first version of a national exploration programme and submitted it to the European Commission in June 2025. It is to be reviewed and updated regularly. Current Project Trends: Focus on Strategic Raw Materials The ongoing developments in the German mining industry, alongside the EU’s CRMA, are not only reshaping the regulatory environment but also driving tangible shifts in Germany’s project landscape. With its Raw Materials Strategy, the German govern - ment aims to support the supply of raw materials for
the German economy through the three pillars of raw materials supply: domestic raw materials, imports and recycling. The strategy includes measures such as: • promoting responsible supply chains; • improving environmental and social standards; • ensuring access to geological data; • increasing domestic extraction; and • raising public acceptance of mining activities. Political incentives and the growing demand for criti - cal and strategic raw materials are already creating clear project trends. In addition to the expansion of geothermal energy as a key component of Germany’s heat transition, there is increasing interest in domes - tic lithium resources to support the European battery value chain. Growing Interest in Lithium Lithium is a key raw material for the energy transition, particularly for the production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems. According to estimates, global demand for lithium will increase approximately sixfold by 2030. Battery-grade lithium is classified as a strategic raw material under the CRMA. This means that the devel - opment of European and, in particular, German lithium resources is increasingly becoming the focus of indus - trial policy and raw materials strategy. Germany has significant lithium deposits, particularly in the hot thermal waters of the Upper Rhine Gra - ben, as well as in Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. These deep waters contain considerable amounts of dissolved lithium and offer the opportunity to combine raw material extraction with geothermal energy production. The number of exploration licences for lithium as a by- product of geothermal energy production in Germany is increasing. Between 2% and 12% of Germany’s annual lithium demand could theoretically be met by existing geothermal power plants in the Upper Rhine Graben and the North German Basin. Two of the projects classified as strategic by the European Commission concern such exploration and
173 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook