1. The Commission shall monitor supply risks related to critical raw materials, in particular those that risk distorting competition or fragmenting the internal market.
That monitoring shall cover at least the evolution of the following parameters:
(a)
trade flows between the Union and third countries and within the internal market;
(b)
demand and supply;
(c)
concentration of supply;
(d)
Union and global production and production capacities at different stages of the raw materials value chain;
(e)
price volatility;
(f)
bottlenecks at any stages of Union production and permitting bottlenecks for Strategic Projects within the Union;
(g)
potential obstacles to trade in critical raw materials or in goods that use critical raw materials as input within the internal market.
2. The national authorities participating in the standing subgroup referred to in Article 36(8), point (e) shall support the Commission in the monitoring referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article by:
(a)
sharing relevant information they have at their disposal on the evolution of the parameters listed in paragraph 1 of this Article, except for point (e) thereof, including the information referred to in Article 21;
(b)
gathering, in coordination with the Commission and the other participating authorities, information on the evolution of the parameters listed in paragraph 1 of this Article, including the information referred to in Article 21;
(c)
providing an analysis of the supply risks for critical raw materials in light of the evolution of the parameters listed in paragraph 1;
(d)
informing the Commission without delay if the Member State becomes aware of a risk of a serious supply disruption related to critical raw materials.
3. The Commission, in collaboration with the national authorities participating in the standing subgroup referred to in Article 36(8), point (e) shall ensure that a stress test is carried out for each strategic raw materials supply chain at least every three years or if significant increase in supply risks is detected as a result of the monitoring referred in paragraph 1 of this Article. To that end, the standing subgroup referred to in Article 36(8), point (e) shall coordinate and divide the implementation of stress tests for the different strategic raw materials by the different participating authorities.
The stress tests referred to in the first subparagraph shall consist of an assessment of the vulnerability of the Union’s raw materials supply chain of the relevant strategic raw material to supply disruptions by estimating the impact of different scenarios that may cause such supply disruptions and their potential effects, taking into account at least the following elements:
(a)
where the strategic raw material concerned is extracted, processed or recycled;
(b)
the capacities of economic operators along the raw materials value chain as well as the market structure;
(c)
factors that might affect supply, including but not limited to the geopolitical situation, logistics, energy supply, workforce or natural disasters;
(d)
the availability and ability to swiftly diversify supply sources, substitute materials or mitigate demand;
(e)
the users of the relevant strategic raw material along the raw materials value chain and their share of demand, with special attention to the manufacturing of technologies relevant for the green and digital transitions as well as defence and aerospace applications;
(f)
potential obstacles to cross-border trade in relevant strategic raw materials or in goods that use strategic raw materials as an input within the internal market.
4. The Commission shall make publicly available on a free-access website and regularly update a monitoring dashboard containing:
(a)
aggregated information on the evolution of the parameters referred to in paragraph 1;
(b)
an aggregated description of calculation of the supply risk for critical raw materials in light of the information referred to in point (a) of this paragraph;
(c)
where appropriate, general suggestions for suitable mitigation strategies to decrease supply risk, unless making those general suggestions publicly available jeopardise the protection of trade or business secrets or other sensitive, confidential or classified information.
5. The Commission shall analyse the information gathered pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article. Where the Commission considers, on the basis of the analysis, that there a is clear indication of the risk of a supply disruption that is likely to distort competition or fragment the internal market, the Commission shall alert Member States, the Board and the Union governance bodies of crisis vigilance or crisis management mechanisms whose scope covers relevant strategic or critical raw materials. Where relevant, the Commission shall also assess whether this risk requires an update of the list of strategic raw materials pursuant to Article 3(3).