The German Raw Material Strategy: Taking Stock

At the time of writing, it has been a year and a half since the publication of “The German Government’s raw materials strategy”. In response to demands from German industry prompted by the fear of growing problems in securing supplies of raw materials and calling for a more active support policy, the German government published its raw materials strategy on 25 October 2010. Earlier, in 2008, a Communication of the European Commission on raw materials had already been published, again heeding calls by Germany’s industry associations.

The present paper is an attempt to take stock of how individual core elements of the raw materials strategy have been put into practice, with a focus on the promotion of foreign trade and on development cooperation.