The EU is 100% dependent on imports for its critical raw materials.

Error detected

The claim states the EU is '100% dependent on imports for its critical raw materials', implying zero domestic production across all critical raw materials. In reality, the EU has domestic mining, processing, and recycling capacity for several critical raw materials, including cobalt (Finland), tungsten (Austria, Portugal, Spain), and hafnium, among others. Import reliance rates vary from approximately 63% to 100% depending on the specific material, making the blanket 100% claim factually incorrect.

Omissions

• The MEP did not cite any source for the 100% figure.
• The claim treats all critical raw materials as a single homogeneous category, obscuring wide variation: import reliance ranges from ~64% for cobalt to ~100% for rare earths and niobium.
• The EU's 2023 Critical Raw Materials study listed 34 critical raw materials with import reliance rates spanning from 63% to 100%, with most above 90% but several well below 100%.
• Eurostat's 2025 trade data describes the EU as 'heavily dependent' on imports, not '100% dependent', and notes that import volumes for some materials actually fell between 2019 and 2025.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat — Statistics Explained: International trade in critical raw materialsIn 2025, the EU was heavily dependent on China for imports of magnesium, gallium and ferro-tungsten. In 2025, the EU was heavily dependent on Brazil for imports of ferro-niobium. Between 2023 and 2025, EU imports of borates rose from 423 thousand tonnes to 456 thousand tonnes. The EU's critical raw material imports fell between 2019 and 2025.
• SecondaryAgence Europe — BulletinEurope remains heavily dependent on a handful of countries for its critical raw material imports, particularly rare earths, according to Eurostat. The European Union's critical raw material imports fell between 2019 and 2025.