On Monday 9 December, the European Commission granted the European Battery Alliance the status of Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), a pre-requisite for its financing by Member States.
Seven countries will contribute €3.2 billion over the coming years: Germany and France—at the start of the project (see EUROPE 12384/17)—as well as Belgium, Finland, Italy, Poland and Sweden. An additional €5 billion in private investment should be made available at a later stage.
This transnational industry project for research and innovation in the battery sector will have 17 direct actors, many of whom are industrial players, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the Commission said in a press release.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Competition Policy, also gave assurances in the same press release that the public aid authorised by the Commission would ensure that the project would go ahead “without unduly distorting competition”.
“Battery production in Europe is of strategic interest to our economy and society, given its potential for clean mobility and energy, job creation, sustainability and competitiveness”, she added.
The French Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, also welcomed the “good news for employment, but also for European economic and technological sovereignty”. According to him, this project will contribute to the EU's objective of becoming the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.
“The European automotive industry will no longer be forced to import batteries produced on the other side of the world and it will be able to offer Europeans truly green electric vehicles”, he commended. Mr Le Maire recalled that he and his German counterpart, Peter Altmaier, would inaugurate a pilot plant in Nersac, France, in early 2020. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki, intern)