So this is what we are discussing with our Portuguese, friends, Serbian colleagues and more or less with every promoter of this type of project.

But even if we get that buy-in, can we

do it fast enough? A few years ago, Chef Chavitch said the EU was about 98% dependent on China for rare earths. In Berlin earlier this year, he said that we're now 90% dependent. Hm, progress of sorts, I suppose. The question for the EU is what degree of incentives is it prepared to offer private investors? What level of compensation is it able to offer communities affected by mining or processing? And will Brussels be able to persuade EU members that they need to mobilize full tilt in support of a rare earth metal strategy in order to compete on the world stage? Because remember, critical raw materials are the new oil and gas. We've seen what overdependency on a hostile supplier means since the Russo-Ukrainian War. Can the EU, or indeed anyone, expect to maintain their global political influence if China holds the keys to future progress? What

we are doing here is that we are working with the time horizon of 2030. So if it comes to lithium, there are four or five promising projects in the Eurobore, its vicinity, which should cover the needs of European battery manufacturing industry until 2030.

Chef Chavitch oversees the European raw materials alliance, which seeks to diversify supply of these metals as far and wide as possible. So far, the alliance has invested some £2 billion over the past five years. But given that secure and abundant access to this stuff is essential to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, is that really enough? Olivia Lazard is not convinced.