Recent years have seen an increase in the amount of raw materials used in products. Therefore securing reliable and unlimited access to certain raw materials is a growing concern in the EU and across the globe.

In June 2010, the European Commission published an expert report (based on a study) which established a methodology for the identification of (non-energy and non-food material) raw materials deemed critical to the EU. Critical raw materials are those raw materials of high economic importance to the EU but with high-risk associated with their supply.

In 2011, a first list of critical raw materials was published through a Commission Communication (COM(2011) 25) based on the aforementioned expert report.

Since then, the Commission has made a political commitment to Member States and the European Parliament to publish a list of critical raw materials at least every three years. The latest revision to the list of critical raw materials took place in May 2014 through the publication of a new expert report and a Commission Communication (COM(2014) 297).

In order to be able to deliver the next report and eventually also a list of critical raw materials in 2017, a new study is required.

For detailed information on the study requirements, please see the technical specifications.

All tendering documents relating to DG GROW are published through a European Commission-wide unique platform called "eTendering".

If you are interested in this call, please use this link to get access to all tender documents.
 

Update 16.09.2015:

An additional opening session will take place at 10.00 on 18 September 2015 at following location:

European Commission
Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Office address: BREY 10/106
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

An authorised representative of each tenderer may attend the additional opening session of the bids. Companies wishing to attend are requested to notify their intention by sending an e-mail to GROW-C-FINANCIAL-TEAM@ec.europa.eu . This notification must be signed by an authorised officer of the tenderer and specify the name of the person who will attend the opening of the bids on the tenderer's behalf.