Rare Earths & Magnets: Expanding European Capacities
PASSENGER among the protagonists of the momentum-building for a resilient, competitive, and sustainable European magnet value chain
On 29 and 30 October, PASSENGER took the stage at the Rare Earths & Magnets: Expanding European Capacities conference, hosted at the iconic Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Co-organised by EIT Raw Materials and PASSENGER, the project final conference was embedded in the EIT Rare earths and Magnets Strategic Impact Group Network (SIGN) event. This two-day meeting brought together 150 representatives of the entire European rare earth and magnet ecosystem (from mining experts to OEMs, from researchers to policymakers) to accelerate Europe’s journey toward strategic autonomy in critical materials.
Need to turn intent into action
The event was opened by EIT Raw Materials Bernd Schäfer, who gave the context for the contributions and discussions ahead. He highlighted how REEs and permanent magnets are at the heart of Europe technological development and how urgent it is to establish EU own and independent value chains, rather than relying on fluctuating and unstable markets linked to the uncertainty of the global geopolitical context. Key to the achievement of the scope are initiatives supporting capacity building, including investments in technology development and infrastructures, establishment of policy frameworks to allow industrial scale up, and support talent and skill development.
During the two days of the event, through high-quality keynote presentations and engaged panel discussions, representatives from all the main stakeholders group contributed to the dialogue on how to guarantee Europe competitiveness in REEs supply and permanent magnets production, providing valuable insights and actionable steps to enable this effort. The list of speakers is available on the event agenda here. Key messages include:
- The importance of dedicated policies like the flagship Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which is supporting the achievement of Europe self-reliance in raw materials supply, the efforts to seal strategic partnerships with third countries to diversify development, production and trades, and how strategic projects under the CRMA are instrumental to increase EU capacity to extract, process and recycle strategic raw materials and diversify EU supplies from third countries.
- The need to consider alternative pricing mechanisms for rare earths, addressing how Europe can mobilise the estimated €2 billion investment needed to build its full value chain by 2030
- Sustainable magnet technologies as crucial building block for the future of strategic technologies for the digital and green transition, like electric mobility, whose demand is expected to substantially increase in the very near future (EU need of EV traction motors annually estimated in 21 million by 2037)
- Collaboration and alignment in policy, investment, and partnerships are crucial to the establishment of an EU resilient and stable value chain for REEs and permanent magnets
PASSENGER: Innovation in Action
As part of the event, the PASSENGER project held its final conference, showcasing REE-free and sustainable magnet technologies developed throughout the project lifetime.
The coordinator Rodolfo Miranda (IMDEA Nanoscience) held a speck during the event opening session, presenting the PASSENGER journey and highlighting the main achievements, milestones and the long-term perspective and impact generated by the project’s results. Specific contributions were delivered by other partners:
- Karla Kosmač (Kolektor) and Paolo Bernardi (Industrie ILPEA) presented the high-performance ferrite magnets developed by PASSENGER, from ferrite powders to magnets manufacturing and testing and pilot-scale production progress
- Martin Dopler (METALPINE) and Semih Ener (TU Darmstadt) showcased the strong potential application of manganese-based magnets, ideal candidates as “gap magnets” for use in strategic applications (e.g. when corrosion resistance is needed)
- Fabio Scaffidi Muta (Centro Ricerche Fiat) and Martin Krengel & Matthias Schmude (Wilo Group) validated ferrite magnet performance in automotive and water pump systems, showing the suitability of PASSENGER magnets for applications that are key
PASSENGER’s impact spans across economy, environment, and safety, proving that European innovation can deliver optimal alternatives to rare earth-based magnets and thus strongly support EU competitiveness and self-reliance for the permanent magnets value chain.
The Ecosystem in Motion: CRMs4EU session
During the event, a special session was dedicated to one of the major outcomes of PASSENGER: the establishment of the CRMs4EU cluster, which (as of October 2025) counts 17 EU-funded projects working to advance research and innovation to enable stable and resilient supply and value chains of critical raw materials. The cluster was greatly celebrated by representatives from 5 projects:
- MAGELLAN, presented by Alexandre Damiens (Orano Group)
- REEsilience and HARMONY, introduced by Maëva Pratlong (Steinbeis Europa Zentrum)
- GREENE, pitched by the coordinator Kristina Žužek, (Jožef Stefan Institute)
- REEPRODUCE – Felipe Guerrero, Business Developer, JGI Hydro Metal and Rare Earths Recycling
All these projects are applying their unique approach and tacking specific scientific aspects to support the establishment of a resilient permanent magnets value chain, either by developing technology and processes for the recycling of EoL permanent magnets, improving the quality and output of magnets manufactured using secondary recovered REEs, as well as applying grain-boundaries engineering to the development of high performance permanent magnets with reduced REE content.
A Shared Commitment
As the conference concluded with an exclusive tour of the Sindelfinden Mercedes-Benz assembly plant, one message resonated across all participants: Europe’s window is narrow but the will to act is strong.
