The Mission: Resilient Europe

In a structurally interdependent world, all economies are vulnerable to external shocks, but in some key sectors, the EU is dangerously dependent on raw materials and technologies supplied from outside Europe, including pharmaceuticals and medicines. The EU is also heavily dependent on cloud computing for the ‘internet of things’ and AI, and on lithium, a key component of high-performance batteries needed for progress towards the net-zero age.

This mission is to ensure Europe’s industry becomes more resilient against external shocks by:

1. Continuing the work already started by the European Raw Materials Alliance to diversify sources of raw materials, including hitherto unexploited European deposits.
    
2. Using what we already have more efficiently and recycling it for reuse wherever possible.
    
3. Incentivising the build-up of strategic reserves, especially of medicines, as well as research and development into alternatives.
    
4. Establishing a European data space with its own rules to provide a safe alternative to US and Chinese tech giants.
    
5. Adopting an active industrial policy to reduce European dependency on lithium from East Asia, which will incentivise the establishment of a European battery and semi-conductor production industry.