The European Commission will sign a strategic partnership with Australia on critical raw materials, a source familiar with the matter told Euractiv, as the EU continues its drive to secure access to these materials from sources other than China. Separately, the Commission’s Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Kerstin Jorna, told Euractiv that four partnerships are “in the negotiation [stage] or ready for signature”. The EU is trying to reduce its dependency on China for critical raw materials that are key to the bloc’s green and digital goals. These materials include lithium ... (full story)