European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials

EIP RM

The European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM) is a stakeholder platform that brings together representatives from industry, public services, academia and NGOs. The platform provides high-level guidance for the European Commission, Members States and private actors, on innovative approaches to the challenges related to raw materials.

This EIP was set up with a view to increasing and securing the sustainable supply of Europe’s own raw materials and making Europe a world leader in raw materials exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution by 2020. The scope of the EIP-RM covers non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials used for industrial purposes, including minerals and aggregates, wood and natural rubber-based materials. The EIP-RM is coordinated by the European Commission’s DG GROW.

FTP, together with its shareholders CEPI and CEI-Bois, was actively involved in the preparation process of the EIP’s Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP), approved in September 2013. The SIP sets out the EIP’s specific objectives and targets, as well as the necessary actions to achieve them.

As with other EIPs, the EIP-RM is not a funding instrument. It aims to bring stakeholders together to combine efforts, exchange and/or create innovation ideas, and to be partners in projects which produce concrete deliverables, and help achieve systemic change in the European research, development and innovation landscape.

Further to the approval of the SIP, the EIP launched an open Call for Commitments. A Commitment is a joint undertaking by different parties to cooperate and take actions that will contribute to achieving the objectives of the SIP. For further details please see recognized forest-based sector-related Raw Materials Commitments.

Governance

The EIP’s High Level Steering Group (HLSG) provides strategic direction for the EIP-RM. It updates the SIP and promotes the activities of the EIP at EU and national levels. The Operational Groups’ (OGs) main task is to provide expert advice to the HLSG to convert the SIP into tasks and actions. Five different OGs have been established according to the different subjects, including one for biotic raw materials. OG members are sourced from European industry, academia, and Member State civil services.