European Court of Auditors publishes Special Report 04/2026 assessing EU critical raw materials policy implementation (incl. rare earth elements)

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) published Special Report 04/2026 evaluating the EU’s approach to securing critical raw materials for the energy transition, explicitly covering rare earth elements (including REEs for permanent magnets). While not a binding legal amendment, the report is compliance-relevant as it highlights CRMA-related supply concentration risk (including the CRMA 2030 benchmark that no more than 65% of each strategic raw material should originate from a single non‑EU country), and identifies implementation gaps (e.g., permitting bottlenecks, funding clarity, and strategic project call delays) that may affect planning, sourcing risk, and future EU implementation measures impacting REE supply chains.