EU countries on Monday gave their final approval on targets for domestic supply of critical minerals such as lithium and nickel, to reduce Europe's reliance on third countries, principally China.

The so-called Critical Raw Materials Act says the European Union should extract 10%, recycle 25% and process 40% of its annual needs by 2030 for 17 "strategic raw materials", seen as crucial for the green and digital transitions, as well as for the defence and space industries.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Toby Chopra)