Mineral Industry Days 2026, co-organised by Euromines, the Federation of Norwegian Industries, and Aggregates Europe, took place in Oslo on 13–14 April 2026. The event brought together European and industry leaders for two days to discuss the role of Europe’s mineral industry in shaping a sustainable and resilient future. Euromines President Jan Moström, Director General Rolf Kuby, and Deputy Director General Dr Florian Anderhuber participated in the discussions.
Day 1 – Strategic Preparedness and Europe’s Raw Materials Challenge
Euromines President Jan Moström contributed to the high-level session “Preparedness and the regulatory environment”, while Euromines Director General Rolf Kuby participated in the closing fireside chat alongside key industry partners. Their contributions set a clear tone: Europe’s raw materials system is becoming increasingly constrained by geopolitical tensions, regulatory complexity, and declining domestic processing capacity, requiring urgent policy and industrial alignment.
The session brought together leading voices including Fabian Zuleeg (European Policy Centre), who highlighted Europe’s “trilemma of price, cost and sustainability”, underlining the need for more transparent discussions on trade-offs. Jan Moström emphasised the supply chain perspective, pointing to growing pressure from global competition for critical minerals and the widening gap between Europe’s strategic ambitions and regulatory reality.
A shared conclusion emerged: raw materials are now central to Europe’s energy transition, defence capability, infrastructure resilience, and industrial sovereignty. At the same time, they represent a strategic opportunity, if Europe can modernise permitting, strengthen investment frameworks, and align policy with industrial needs.
From Fragmentation to Strategic Opportunity in EU Raw Materials Policy
The closing fireside chat reinforced a central message from Euromines Director General Rolf Kuby: Europe has the assets and expertise required, but must now accelerate delivery through greater coherence, speed, and trust-building across stakeholders.
Day 2 – Sustainability, Skills and Industrial Competitiveness
Euromines Deputy Director General Dr Florian Anderhuber highlighted a key transformation: sustainability is no longer just an ESG requirement, but a foundational pillar of long-term industrial competitiveness.
The discussion emphasised a clear evolution across the sector:
- from compliance → to value creation
- from reporting → to trust and reliability
- from obligation → to competitive advantage
Responsible operations are increasingly recognised as stable and strategic operations, aligning environmental performance with industrial resilience and investment attractiveness.
Workforce, Skills and Trust in the Raw Materials Sector
A dedicated session on workforce development underscored that skills, talent attraction, and public trust are becoming defining challenges for the European raw materials sector.
Speakers, including Euromines Director General Rolf Kuby, highlighted the need to better connect the sector’s role to societal value, particularly in enabling the green transition, digitalisation, and security.
Key priorities included:
- Embedding skills development early in project and industrial planning
- Strengthening diversity, inclusion, and long-term talent pipelines
- Improving public understanding of the sector’s contribution to Europe’s future
The message was clear: competitiveness depends not only on technology and resources, but also on people, purpose, and perception.
Shared Conclusions from Mineral Industry Days 2026
Across both days, speakers from Euromines, industry, and policy agreed on a central direction: Europe’s raw materials sector is essential to strategic autonomy, but must evolve faster to meet today’s geopolitical and economic realities.
Key shared takeaways:
- Raw materials underpin Europe’s energy, defence, and industrial systems
- Permitting and regulatory frameworks must become more efficient and coherent
- Circularity and innovation are key to strengthening supply resilience
- Trust, transparency, and local engagement are essential for long-term legitimacy