EIT RawMaterials Summit Takeaway: Europe’s Critical Minerals, Critically Ignored
Europe’s fragmented funding landscape is choking its mining start-ups, say industry leaders calling for unified capital markets and streamlined support.

Europe wants to lead the charge in green energy, tech innovation, and resource independence—but when it comes to supporting its mining start-ups, the continent is still stuck in the slow lane. At the recent EIT RawMaterials Summit in Brussels, industry leaders, EU officials, and founders sent one unified message: Europe is underdelivering on its promise to foster the next generation of mining and critical raw materials pioneers.
The issue isn’t a lack of ambition. It’s fragmentation. Fragmented capital markets. Fragmented funding processes. Fragmented legal systems. And for start-ups trying to survive in one of the most geopolitically sensitive sectors on Earth, this fragmentation could be fatal. In an age where securing critical minerals is as important as securing borders, Europe’s disjointed support system is letting its most strategic ventures slip through the cracks.
EU Commissioner Jessika Roswall didn’t sugarcoat the problem. Opening Day 2 of the summit, she acknowledged that Europe's raw materials market is too fractured to compete globally. Her solution? A unified capital market and streamlined funding processes to allow smaller companies—not just the corporate giants—to get their foot in the door. Roswall, whose title is as long as the regulatory forms these companies are forced to fill out (Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience, and a Competitive Circular Economy), promised simplification is on the horizon. But promises only go so far when start-ups are running out of time and runway.
