The Commission agrees that salt is an important industrial input. Salt is however currently not assessed regarding its criticality.

The Commission plans to update the list of critical raw materials by 24 May 2027 in line with Article 4 of the Critical Raw Materials Act[1]. The technical assessment according to the methodology defined in Annex II of the regulation will start in the second half of 2025, which will include a decision on the scope of screened raw materials.

Regarding the high market-entry barriers, the Commission published its Single Market Strategy[2] in May 2025, which addresses these issues among others.

Several provisions in the Critical Raw Materials Act could benefit the production of all raw materials in the EU, such as better land-use planning, updated exploration programmes, increased permitting capacity or heightened awareness of the importance of raw materials both in the national administrations and general population, even though there are no directly applicable provisions.

Last updated: 7 July 2025