Nordic Compass, a competitiveness-focused business alliance involving major Nordic companies and investors, is considering adding critical raw materials processing as a fifth work stream. Chairman Jyrki Katainen, former Finnish prime minister and head of public and regulatory affairs at Nordea Bank Abp, confirmed the group is exploring the move due to strong interest and the Nordic region's advantage in mining deposits and technology firms. The initiative aims to boost Europe’s capacity to process minerals needed for defense, clean energy, electric vehicles, and advanced technology, reducing reliance on imports.
The EU targets producing at least 40% of its strategic raw materials domestically by 2030, while limiting dependence on any single third country to 65%. China currently leads in processing, refining 19 of 20 strategic minerals with ~70% market share. Nordic Compass, inspired by Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report, plans to present its vision at a Gothenburg summit in November.
Proposals under discussion include a Nordic scale-up fund, integrated stock markets, and harmonized capital market regulations to ease cross-border investment.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing