European-Japanese Cooperation on Rare Earth Elements (REE) Policy

By invitation of Reinhard Bütikofer and Judith Merkies, MEPs, a high-ranking delegation from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), under the leadership of Deputy Director General Keiichi Kawakami, met with parliamentarians in the European Parliament today. Mr. Kawakami presented Japan’s rare earth elements strategy.

On this occasion, Reinhard Bütikofer, Member of the European Parliament (The Greens/EFA) and Rapporteur on Raw Materials, declared:

“Europe can learn a lot from Japan with regard to substitution and recycling of rare earth elements. As Japan and the EU combined are responsible for almost 50% of global REE consumption, there is a lot of shared interest in this field. Europe and Japan should go for close cooperation, most particularly in the field of research and innovation. We are grateful that our Japanese guests are also interested in this cooperation and we are looking forward to a continued and enhanced exchange.”

Judith Merkies, Member of the European Parliament (S&D) and Rapporteur on Innovation Union, stated:

“As our global natural resources are increasingly scarce, we have to combine strengths and learn from each other how to rapidly grow towards a recycling society. As Japan and the EU are both heavily dependant on imports of raw materials, we can benefit hugely from exchanging best practices, set up joint research and to promote sustainable, intelligent and efficient use of resources and energy.”

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Further information: The report “Study on Rare Earths and Their Recycling,” produced by Öko-Institut e.V. for The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, is available for download here.

And here you can see the full presentation.