European Commission Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejourne begins a two-day visit to Greece Wednesday.
Sejourne will meet Minister of Development Takis Theodorikakos Wednesday and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Metlen Group CEO Evangelos Mytilineeos Thursday in Agios Nikolaos, in the regional unit of Viotia, where he will visit Metlen facilities.
Sejourne’s visit has to do with the EU’s Critical Raw Materials initiative. The Commission has adopted, for the first time, a list of 47 Strategic Projects “to boost domestic strategic raw material capacities, which will in turn strengthen the European raw materials value chain and diversify sources of supply,” it announced Tuesday.
The Critical Raw Material Act “aims to ensure European extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials meet 10%, 40% and 25% of EU’s demand by 2030, respectively. By helping Europe meet these targets, the new Strategic Projects contribute significantly to Europe’s green and digital transitions, while supporting Europe’s defense industry and aerospace industries,” the Commission announcement said.
Metlen is the main producer of aluminum and other minerals in Greece.