At this year’s Raw Materials Week, EuroGeoSurveys and the European Commission’s DG GROW co-hosted a dedicated session on the implementation of National Exploration Programmes across EU Member States. The session brought together EU institutions, geological surveys, industry, and financial actors to discuss how public geoscience can unlock Europe’s mineral raw materials potential.
Key messages centred on Europe’s urgent need to scale up exploration investment. The European Investment Bank and Aurum Exploration presented preliminary findings from their forthcoming report, calling for a tenfold increase in funding for public geoscience, faster permitting, improved land access, and better digital geological data. Industry perspectives highlighted the importance of regulatory stability to attract investment, while examples from geological surveys, such as Poland’s national drilling capacity, showcased how high-quality, open data can de-risk exploration.
Speakers agreed that Europe must strengthen skills, communication, and coordinated public-private action to build a robust exploration ecosystem capable of meeting the EU’s ambitions.