China must surrender know-how for EU access, says critical mineral CEO
“We are no longer the professor," Umicore chief Bart Sap tells Euractiv. "We are the student"
Economy
Nikolaus J. Kurmayer/
Thomas Moller-NielsenEuractiv
Feb 18, 2026 - 06:00
(Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Chinese companies should relinquish control of cutting-edge technologies and form joint ventures with EU firms to access the bloc’s single market, according to the head of a leading European critical minerals processor.
Bart Sap, CEO of Umicore, told
Euractiv that introducing conditions on Chinese firms’ ability to sell to the EU’s 450 million consumers – which would mirror restrictions that Beijing has long imposed on foreign investment into China – is necessary to “rebalance” relations between the EU and the world’s second-largest economy.
“The reality is, we are behind the curve,” said Sap, whose Brussels-headquartered firm refines 17 minerals, including cobalt, nickel, and antimony, that the EU has designated as
strategically critical.
China
accounts for roughly 70% of global critical mineral processing, giving Beijing an effective chokehold over elements used in the production of numerous high-tech civilian and military technologies, including fighter planes, radars, and computer chips.
“We have to make sure that we onshore these technologies here; that when we spend public funds, that actually we bring those companies and technologies in joint ventures into Europe,” Sap added. “And therefore, a strong local content requirement is needed.”
Facing ‘reality’
Sap’s comments come as China’s
yawning trade surplus and
growing dominance in a wide range of modern technologies, from electric vehicle production to mineral refining, are straining ties between Brussels and Beijing at a time when high energy prices and US tariffs are already eroding Europe’s industrial base.
They also come after Beijing imposed
stringent export controls on rare earths – a critical mineral subgroup – in retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s
sweeping levies last April. The move alarmed European officials and business leaders and accelerated Brussels’ efforts to reduce its strategic dependence on Beijing and Washington through ‘Made in Europe’ industrial policies.
The bloc’s protectionist push, which is strongly backed by
France’s Emmanuel Macron but viewed more cautiously by Germany and many other countries, was debated at an informal EU summit last week and will also be discussed by leaders in Brussels next month.
The European Commission’s ‘
Industrial Accelerator Act’, set to be unveiled next week, is also expected to contain tough local content requirements for subsidies and public tenders in a range of areas, including electric vehicles, batteries, and aluminium, according to a draft proposal seen by
Euractiv.
Sap, whose company is the only European refiner of germanium, a critical mineral
recently weaponised by Beijing, said demanding preferential treatment for EU firms will require Brussels to face the “reality” of China’s technological dominance.
“We have to recognise that we are no longer the professor, we are the student,” he said. “And if you’re a student, you take a different approach, and you want to learn.”
‘China cannot live without the EU’
Sap added that pursuing this approach will require EU leaders to be “brave enough” to stand up to China, which is the bloc’s second-largest
trading partner for goods after the US.
“If some commissioners or leaders in the EU would say [a] local content requirement is coming, investments will come into Europe,” Sap said. “Because in the end, China cannot live without the EU. Because with whom are they going to trade?”
He also pushed back against the suggestion that such policies would be aimed “against” China, arguing instead that they are better viewed as an attempt to “collaborate” with Beijing.
Washington’s efforts to
cut China out of American supply chains – and its attempt to
pressure the EU to follow suit – have also provided an “opportunity” for Europe to strengthen its industrial competitiveness, he said.
“We can fight it, or we can collaborate,” Sap said. “And I think we have an opportunity, because the US has chosen to fight it. Let us collaborate.”