The European Commission wants to encourage the development of a European battery sector whose competitiveness is based primarily on quality rather than price. To do this, the institution wants to tackle the environmental and social “risks” of battery production, according to a draft version of the regulation obtained by EUROPE on Tuesday 8 December.
The Commission targets three main challenges: – firstly, the lack of incentives to invest in the production of green batteries (also linked to poor implementation of the Batteries Directive, according to its analysis); – secondly, the low recycling rate of materials used in battery production and the risk associated with the supply of raw materials; – thirdly, social and environmental risks, which are currently not covered by Community environmental law.
These problems arise, in particular, due to: – the lack of transparency in the supply of raw materials; – failures in handling hazardous substances; –the potential for offsetting the environmental impacts of battery life cycles, which remains untapped in the eyes of the institution.
Thus, the Regulation provides (in its Article 39 and Annex X) that due diligence policies shall be established for industrial rechargeable batteries and batteries for electric vehicles sold in the single market. In particular, it establishes this principle with regard to the monitoring of the battery supply chain, which would be placed under the aegis of the European Commission (Article 72).
Also of importance, the European Commission introduces (in Article 7 and Annex II) a limitation of the carbon footprint of battery production. Electric vehicle batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries with internal storage capacity greater than 2 kWh will thus have to be accompanied by technical documentation containing a carbon footprint statement drawn up in accordance with a delegated act of the European Commission. The declaration would apply from 1 July 2024. The Commission will set by delegated act (which gives more power to the Parliament than an implementing act) a maximum carbon threshold for the production of batteries on 1 July 2027. This relatively distant date allows the Commission time to collect sufficient data to be able to determine these thresholds.
In addition, the institution sets recycling rates for batteries (Article 57 and Annex XII) with a progressive rate by 2030. Thus, the European Commission plans to recycle 75% of lead batteries and 65% of lithium batteries by 1 January 2025 and 80% and 70% by 1 January 2030, respectively.
Vice-President Maros Šefčovič recently confirmed that he hopes to have this Regulation adopted at the latest in the course of 2022 (see EUROPE 12582/31). For the socio-economic stakes are colossal: it is a question of ensuring European autonomy by 2025 and extracting it from its dependence on Asian (in this case, Chinese) production. According to the Vice-President, in view of the progress made in the framework of the Battery Alliance, the European Union would be able to meet up to 80% of its needs within 5 years (see EUROPE 12547/10).
To consult the provisional version of the Regulation: https://bit.ly/3m3xeNa; – and its annexes: https://bit.ly/2K7lYle (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Damien Genicot)