The European Union wants to move up a gear in order to establish European champions in the battery sector as soon as possible, according to announcements by Vice-President of the Commission responsible for the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, on Tuesday, 30 April, at the end of the third meeting of the European Battery Alliance.
“I can tell you that our non-European competitors are getting worried,” the Commissioner boasted, not hiding the fact that the European Union is “slowly” catching-up with its Asian competition, particularly from China and South Korea. It is true that the European Union accounted for only 3% of the world market in 2018. “So we have agreed to act even faster.”
As a result, about ten Member States (Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and Slovakia—Finland and the Czech Republic were unable to attend in the end) met at the European Commission to give new political impetus to the various projects.
The concrete project put forward by France and Germany was the first to be discussed in the presence of Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager. These two countries sent a letter to the European Commission with the aim of approving grants to a cross-border battery cell consortium that includes car manufacturer PSA with its German subsidiary Opel and French battery manufacturer Saft, according to Reuters and the German press.
State Aid. This project would be part of an important project of common European interest (IPCEI); the European Commission adopted these specific rules in June 2014 to support key economic projects for the European Union.
The calendar was drafted by Mr Šefčovič. The consortium will have to send the Commission its project file next June. He hopes that the Commission will try to reach a decision during its mandate regarding whether it can benefit from the specific status conferred by the IPCEI. “I have assured them today that we will look at subsequent projects with the same level of determination and commitment”, he said. On Thursday, 2 May, French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire and German Federal Minister of Economy and Energy Peter Altmaier will meet in Paris to work on strengthening their cooperation in the battery sector.
Strong commitment. In general, the commissioner was pleased with Member States’ level of commitment throughout the battery value chain. Sweden, Finland and Portugal have expressed interest in raw material production. As far as chemical processes are concerned, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and Finland are said to be interested.
In addition to Germany and France, Italy, Sweden, and the Czech Republic are also interested in battery cell production. As far as batteries, software, machine tools, and engineering are concerned, Germany, Spain, and Slovakia are also prepared to commit themselves. Finally, on the issue of recycling, Belgium and Germany are said to be interested. On this last point, Poland has also expressed its interest.
The commissioner recalled some figures from the Commission’s report published earlier this month (see EUROPE 12233/23): 100 billion euros in investments are already on the table; 70 billion euros are expected in June through the investment platform set up in partnership with the European Investment Bank.
The next meeting of the Battery Alliance at the technical level is likely to be held next 10 May. Another meeting at the political level is planned for 30 May. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)