"ERA-MIN will, for the first time, bring together a significant number of funding / programming agencies in support of the development of the European non-energy mineral raw materials research area and provide a discussion forum with other European stakeholders involved in non-energy mineral raw materials research. It will aim at building a mirror group to the ETP-SMR, and liaise with non-energy mineral raw materials relevant European Commission (EC) policies and programs as well as with the projects funded by the EC. This will clearly contribute to pool EU capacities, foster EU competitiveness in line with sustainable development ethics, and contribute to the EU security of supplies. ERA-MIN will contribute to the “Raw Materials for a Modern Society” Partnership Initiative“ as it develops, providing inputs from national and regional research programming agencies and their related expert institutions, establishing comprehensive coordination as a permanent feature of the European non-energy mineral raw materials research community (ENERC).ERA-MIN will provide systematic information on its activities to the ESFRI, the OECD Global Science Forum, and the ERC. ERA-MIN will pave the way for coordinated actions between several of its participants, as well as pan-European programs, in the domains of research, outreach, training, mobility, or evaluation procedures. Through these measures, ERA-MIN will help to mobilise the intellectual resources of the whole of Europe in the preparation of the plans for the future, needed to address the non-energy mineral resources related global challenges; and foster initiatives by which a unified Europe will be progressively able to act as an equal partner in collaborative enterprises with the USA, Japan, and developing countries. It will as well be a source of support to developing countries in line with the Action Plan decided by the African and EU in November 2010."