The Mediterranean next door: Europe’s overlooked ladder to raw-material resilience

Introduction

When it comes to critical raw materials, Europe’s strategy still feels oddly distant. We scour the globe for cobalt from the Congo, rare earths from China, or lithium from Chile, while ignoring the simple geography of our own map. Just across the Mediterranean lies a region endowed with many of the materials, skills, and renewable potential we so desperately need. Yet we continue to treat the Mediterranean as a “neighbourhood issue” rather than a strategic extension of our industrial ecosystem.

In my July 2024 policy brief for Luiss LEAP, “Securing Critical Materials across the Mediterranean for the EU’s Renewable Future”, I argued that the success of the European Green Deal depends not only on technological innovation or public investment, but on securing the building blocks of that transformation: nickel, cobalt, platinum-group metals, and the rest of the alphabet soup of “critical materials.” These are the skeleton of the green economy, what turns ambition into hardware. But they are also the weakest link in the chain.

Europe’s dependency on a few dominant suppliers exposes it to every tremor in global politics. One trade dispute, one geopolitical spat, one mine closure halfway around the world, and the gigafactory plans start to wobble. That’s not resilience; that’s wishful thinking wrapped in strategic vocabulary.

The neighbour we keep overlooking

Here’s the paradox: the solution may well be right next door. The Mediterranean Basin, stretching from Morocco to Egypt and from Algeria to the eastern Mediterranean, is rich not only in mineral deposits but also in industrial capability and human capital. It’s a region with which Europe shares deep historical, cultural, and commercial ties, yet it remains under-integrated into our green-industrial thinking.

We’ve become accustomed to viewing partnerships with Australia or Canada as “strategic,” while seeing those with Tunisia or Algeria as “developmental.” The first are framed as equals, the second as aid. This distinction is not only outdated, it’s counterproductive. The Mediterranean is not Europe’s backyard; it is Europe’s front yard. The benefits of engaging the region are obvious and measurable. Proximity means shorter, cleaner supply chains and lower transport emissions. Joint industrial projects can combine European technology with North African resources and talent, delivering jobs and diversification on both sides. And politically, strengthening Mediterranean cooperation would make the EU’s own borders safer, more prosperous, and more stable.

A ladder waiting to be climbed

Europe’s critical-materials strategy has three pillars, diversification, circularity, and substitution. Each of these could find fertile ground in the Mediterranean.

Diversification means developing new supply corridors. Morocco, for instance, is already a model for green-industrial partnerships, combining renewable power with mineral processing and export. Extending that logic eastward could establish a network of trusted suppliers and processors across the basin.

Circularity means reducing dependence on virgin materials through recycling and reuse. Here again, collaboration could pay off: joint recycling hubs, cross-Mediterranean research centres, and circular-economy clusters could turn waste into opportunity.

Substitution means developing alternative materials and technologies that need fewer scarce elements. This requires R&D investment and talent exchange, areas where Mediterranean universities and research institutions could easily become co-leaders rather than junior partners.

But ladders are only useful if we climb them properly. Partnerships built merely on extraction risk repeating the mistakes of the past. If Europe treats the Mediterranean as a convenient mine rather than a co-investor in the green transition, it will gain supply security but lose legitimacy. True partnership means co-ownership — shared processing, shared technology, shared profit, shared responsibility.

The politics of proximity

The irony is that this type of cooperation already exists in pockets. Morocco has signed raw-materials and hydrogen cooperation agreements with the EU; Tunisia is in discussions on renewable-energy integration; Egypt is courting investment in clean industry. Yet these remain isolated initiatives, not a coherent Mediterranean strategy. Meanwhile, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act speaks at length about “strategic partnerships,” but the Mediterranean rarely features among its priorities. It’s as if we still believe resilience must be measured in kilometres of shipping routes rather than in kilometres of trust. To put it bluntly: Europe is looking for solutions at the other end of the world while a willing partner is waving from across the water.

The triple dividend

A well-designed Euro-Mediterranean raw-materials alliance could deliver what I like to call a triple dividend:

1. Economic – securing the materials essential for the green transition.

2. Industrial – building shared value chains that keep more value in the region.

3. Geopolitical – fostering stability, growth, and interdependence in a region critical to Europe’s own security.

And the timing could not be better. As global competition for critical materials intensifies, Europe needs allies who share both geography and long-term interest. The Mediterranean can be that ally, if we approach it with partnership, not paternalism.

A gentle provocation

Perhaps the problem is psychological. Europe still views the Mediterranean as a frontier to be managed, not a partner to be engaged. Yet the green transition gives us a chance to rewrite that story. Instead of drawing new lines, we can build new bridges, bridges of minerals, technologies, and shared prosperity. To borrow a metaphor I used in the policy brief: Europe is trying to build the renewable-energy cathedral of the 21st century but has forgotten to secure the stones. The quarry, it turns out, is just across the sea.

A call to climb

For European institutions, the message is simple: weave the Mediterranean firmly into the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act, not as a “neighbourhood programme” but as an equal strategic pillar. For industry, look south, not out of charity, but out of logic. The shortest supply chain is often the smartest one.

And for Mediterranean partners: seize this moment to negotiate from strength. Insist on joint ventures, local value addition, and technology sharing. Europe needs you more than it admits. The Mediterranean is not a problem to solve; it is a solution waiting to be embraced. If Europe wants a resilient, ethical, and truly sustainable green transition, it should start by looking not to the horizon, but to its own southern shore.

illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

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