The 56th Meeting of the Directors of the EuroGeoSurveys Association (EGS) was held on March 18-21, 2024 in Rovaniemi, Finland, hosted by the Geological Survey of Finland. The Polish Geological Institute-NRI was represented by: prof. dr hab. Stanisław Mikulski, Deputy Director for Research and Development, and Marta Banasiewicz, Head of the International Cooperation Team.

The first day of the meeting was devoted to organisational matters of the Association. Among other things, a roadmap for the EGS strategy was presented, and opportunities to provide reliable, consistent knowledge to the association's stakeholders, including on critical raw materials (CRM), were discussed.

On the second day, a representative of the European Commission gave a presentation to participants on proposed changes to the regulation of critical raw materials. The current draft regulation defines 34 mineral resources treated as critical. The Act will also make it mandatory to draw up a National Exploration Programme for critical raw materials. A Critical Raw Materials Council will be created, which will have an advisory role to assist the European Commission in implementing the various measures proposed in the Act. The regulation is expected to enter into force in the second quarter of 2024.

The final part of the meeting was in sub-groups, during which participants discussed their services' experiences with national exploration programmes, innovation in raw material supply, CRM (Critical Raw Materials) and CRMA (Critical Raw Materials Act) collaboration, as well as raw material data and issues related to mining, supply logistics and economic planning. In addition, there was a meeting of representatives from the Baltic countries on the Baltic Sea wind farm workshop held in Denmark in February this year.

EuroGeoSurveys (European Geological Surveys - Association of European Geological Surveys), together with its expert groups and task forces, provides an important platform for conducting international cooperation. The EGS represents 37 national geological surveys and several regional ones. Directors' meetings and the national delegates' forum take place several times a year and facilitate the opening up and cultivation of contacts between the leadership of the various national services. In addition, the integration of the community is fostered by participation in joint projects financed by European Commission programmes and other sources, in the acquisition of which the association is proving very effective.

The participation of PGI-NRI representatives in EGS meetings is important and provides many opportunities to establish new contacts, discuss current cooperation and discuss current issues concerning the functioning of the geological services.