The EU advances its partnership with Kazakhstan. The partnership Roadmap for the upcoming period 2025-2026 between the EU and Kazakhstan was endorsed in the framework of the first ever EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Joint Declaration following the First European Union-Central Asia Summit

The Roadmap will include more concrete goals to implement the Memorandum of Understanding between the EU and Kazakhstan, signed in November 2022, on a strategic partnership in the field of raw materials, batteries and renewable hydrogen.

The Roadmap builds on the achievements of the 2023-2024 Partnership Roadmap. It further reinforces the concrete areas of actions, such as: enhanced cooperation on geological exploration, research and innovation along the whole raw materials value chain, skills and training, promotion of best practices and Environmental, Social and good Governance standards. 

The Roadmap also envisages support to jointly identified investment projects including those selected as strategic projects under the EU CRM Act, which will have a prominent role in advancing the EU-Kazakhstan integration efforts. 

Aleška Simkić, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakhstan commented: ‘This new Roadmap marks yet another significant step in our partnership with Kazakhstan reflecting shared dedication to sustainability and resilience in our cooperation. The set of activities we have agreed on represent a holistic approach we apply in our cooperation on critical raw materials. Our partnership is already delivering concrete results reaffirming our commitment to a strong and mutually beneficial collaboration.’ 

Background 

The EU-Kazakhstan partnership continues to advance with a strong focus on integrating strategic value chains in critical raw materials, battery production, and renewable hydrogen while building on the existing Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA). This collaboration is already delivering concrete results such as the recently signed €3 million EU-funded project, implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), aimed at enhancing cooperation between the EU and Central Asia in the critical raw materials sector.