08/10/2018 (Agence Europe) – On the sidelines of the European Week of Regions and Cities, on Monday 8 October, European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič and the European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu launched an inter-regional partnership in the field of batteries (see EUROPE 12098). The project, which comes under the banner of the European Battery Alliance, is led by Slovenia and brings together Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Nouvelle Aquitaine in France, Andalusia, the Basque country and Castile-Leon in Spain and Lombardy in Italy. It will run until the end of 2019 and will be supported by the Commission's ad hoc services, as well as external business planning and intellectual property experts. Creţu welcomed the initiative and expressed hopes that many other regions would follow suit to bolster the value chain in the batteries sector. (PH)