On Thursday 17 May, the European Commission adopted a wide-ranging strategic action plan for batteries, setting out a raft of concrete measures.
The action plan, based on the consultation of some 100 industry members in the European Battery Alliance (see EUROPE 11958), promotes an integrated European approach which puts the focus on sustainable battery manufacture throughout the value chain, starting with the extraction and processing of (primary and secondary) raw materials, the design and manufacturing phase of battery cells and battery packs, and their use, second use, recycling and disposal.
Such an approach, the Commission says, will “make Europe the global leader in sustainable battery production”.
The goals of the action plan are to: - secure access to raw materials from resource-rich countries outside the EU, facilitate access to European sources of raw materials, and access secondary raw materials through recycling in a circular economy of batteries; - support European battery cell manufacturing at scale (bringing together key industry players and national authorities and working in partnership with member states and the EIB) - strengthen industrial leadership through stepped-up EU research and innovation support to advanced (e.g. Lithium-ion) and disruptive (e.g. solid state) technologies; - develop and strengthen a highly skilled workforce in all parts of the battery value chain; - support the sustainability of EU battery cell manufacturing industry with the lowest environmental footprint possible by, for example, setting out requirements for safe and sustainable batteries production in Europe; - ensure consistency with the broader EU regulatory and enabling framework (clean energy strategy and mobility packages, trade policy, etc.). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)