CRMA — Critical Raw Materials Act
EU supply security for critical raw materials. Labelling and data-carrier requirements for permanent magnets, plus EU extraction, processing, and recycling targets for 2030.
Overview
The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) — Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 — establishes a framework for securing the EU's supply of critical and strategic raw materials. It introduces mandatory labelling and data-carrier requirements for products containing permanent magnets and sets ambitious 2030 supply chain targets.
Legal basis
- Proposed: 16 March 2023
- Adopted: 11 April 2024
- Entered into force: 23 May 2024
2030 supply targets
- 10% of EU annual consumption extracted within the EU
- 40% of EU annual consumption processed within the EU
- 25% of EU annual consumption recycled within the EU
- No single third country to supply >65% of any strategic raw material
Strategic raw materials
Key SRMs include: Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Graphite, Rare Earth Elements, Magnesium, Manganese, Titanium, Tungsten.
Strategic projects
The first selection round in 2025 designated 47 strategic projects in the EU and 13 in third countries and overseas countries and territories. The second call closed on 15 January 2026. On 9 October 2026 the Commission selected 46 new Strategic Projects in 16 Member States from 102 applications for projects in the EU: 8 extraction, 11 processing, 19 recycling and 8 integrated projects. It plans a new call towards the end of 2026 (European Commission, 9 October 2026).
Permanent magnet label and data carrier
Article 28 requires the products listed below to carry a label stating whether they contain permanent magnets and, if so, of which type. Products that contain such magnets must also carry a data carrier linked to a unique product identifier. Where another EU act requires a product passport for the product, this information goes into that passport. The label and data carrier apply two years after the Commission's implementing act on the label format enters into force. That act is due by 24 November 2026 and had not been published in the Official Journal as of 9 October 2026, so no application date is set yet (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Art. 28).
Article 29 sets a separate obligation. Where one of the products listed below contains neodymium-iron-boron, samarium-cobalt or aluminium-nickel-cobalt magnets with a total weight above 0.2 kg, the company placing it on the market must publish on a free-access website the share of certain rare earths, boron, nickel and cobalt in those magnets that was recovered from post-consumer waste. This applies from 24 May 2027 or two years after the Commission's delegated act on calculation rules enters into force, whichever is later. That act was due by 24 May 2026 and had not been published in the Official Journal as of 9 October 2026, so the disclosure will apply later than 24 May 2027 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Art. 29).
Products covered by Article 28:
- Wind energy generators
- Motor vehicles and light means of transport
- Electric motors, including those integrated in other products
- Industrial robots
- MRI devices
- Heat pumps and cooling generators
- Automatic washing machines, tumble driers, dishwashers, microwaves and vacuum cleaners
Article 28 applies to MRI devices, motor vehicles and light means of transport that are type-approved category L vehicles from 24 May 2029 (Art. 28(10)).
Proposed, not law: Commission proposal COM(2025) 946 (procedure 2025/0385(COD)) would add hard disk drives, transducers, loudspeakers, drones for civil use and motorised toys to the Article 28 label scope, and would extend the Article 29 disclosure to pre-consumer waste. A Parliament committee voted on it on 8 October 2026, and the indicative plenary date is 19 October 2026 (Legislative Observatory, 2025/0385(COD); COM(2025) 946: EUR-Lex).
Label and data-carrier information (Article 28):
- Whether the product contains permanent magnets, and their type (neodymium-iron-boron, samarium-cobalt, aluminium-nickel-cobalt or ferrite)
- Weight, location and chemical composition of each magnet, and the presence and type of magnet coatings, glues and additives
- Instructions for accessing and safely removing the magnets
- Name and contact details of the company responsible
Key dates
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 23 May 2024 | Entered into force |
| 15 January 2026 | Second strategic-project call closed |
| 24 May 2026 | Deadline for the Commission's delegated act on recycled-content calculation (Article 29(2)); not published in the Official Journal as of 9 October 2026 |
| 9 October 2026 | Commission selects 46 new Strategic Projects in 16 Member States |
| 24 November 2026 | Deadline for the Commission's implementing act on the permanent magnet label format (Article 28(2)); not published in the Official Journal as of 9 October 2026 |
| Not yet set | Permanent magnet label and data carrier apply: two years after the label-format act enters into force |
| Not yet set | Recycled-content disclosure applies: 24 May 2027 or two years after the delegated act enters into force, whichever is later |
| 24 May 2029 | Recyclability requirements for MRI devices and vehicles |
| 2030 | EU supply targets: 10% extraction, 40% processing, 25% recycling |
Who is affected
- Extractors of critical and strategic raw materials within the EU
- Processors of raw materials (refining, smelting, chemical processing)
- Permanent magnet manufacturers (neodymium-iron-boron, ferrite, and other compositions)
- Companies placing the products listed under Article 28 on the market (for example wind turbine, vehicle, electric motor, MRI, heat pump and household appliance manufacturers): the label and data carrier apply whatever the magnet weight; the recycled-content disclosure applies where neodymium-iron-boron, samarium-cobalt and aluminium-nickel-cobalt magnets weigh more than 0.2 kg in total
- Member States obligated to identify large companies using strategic raw materials in specified technologies by 24 May 2025 (Article 24)
- Strategic project applicants seeking fast-track permitting under the CRMA framework
Penalties and enforcement
Article 47 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 establishes enforcement provisions. Specific penalty amounts are set by Member States and must be effective and proportionate to the nature of the infringement. No EU-wide harmonised fine ceiling is specified in the regulation text itself.
Key enforcement consequences include:
- Market access denial for non-compliant permanent magnet products once the Article 28 labelling requirements apply (date not yet set)
- Prohibition on placing products on the market if the mandatory label and data-carrier requirements are not met
- National market surveillance authority enforcement, consistent with the EU market surveillance framework (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020)
Key articles
- Article 24: Company risk preparedness. Member States identify large companies using strategic raw materials, which assess their supply chain risks at least every three years
- Article 28: Recyclability of permanent magnets: label and data carrier
- Article 29: Recycled content of permanent magnets: public disclosure for products with more than 0.2 kg of certain magnet types
- Article 47: Enforcement provisions
- Annex I: List of 17 strategic raw materials
- Annex II: List of 34 critical raw materials
Source
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 — EUR-Lex
- Strategic projects: second selection round — European Commission, 19 January 2026
- Commission selects 46 new Strategic Projects: European Commission, 9 October 2026
- Proposal COM(2025) 946 amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1252: Legislative Observatory, 2025/0385(COD)
- EC Critical Raw Materials Act implementation page