European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton expressed their willingness to speed up the negotiation work on the battery regulation at the end of the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Battery Alliance on Friday 12 March.
The Vice-President called for a general approach to the regulation (presented last December - see EUROPE 12620/13) under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council and strongly emphasised the need to have a final adoption in 2022 “at the latest”. “This is essential, given the expected ramp-up in battery production by 2023”, he said, with the aim of achieving strategic autonomy by 2025.
Furthermore, he insisted that Member States should include in their national recovery and resilience plans investments in raw materials to bring about ‘local’ production of the materials needed to produce lithium-ion batteries. In connection with this, the Commission intends to launch a Roundtable on the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Raw Materials Mining.
Finally, both Commissioners stressed the need to address the skills shortage to meet the needs of the emerging sector in the EU (by 2025, there could be 800,000 unfilled jobs due to this shortage).
Furthermore, Šefčovič announced that in April, the European Commission, together with the private sector, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on a partnership underHorizon Europe to foster research and innovation in the battery sector. This partnership would be endowed with 900 million euros.
Questioned by EUROPE, the two commissioners confirmed that the investments planned in particular in Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) (a global budget of 20 billion euros - see EUROPE 12644/13) will be primarily aimed at financing research on lithium-ion batteries, but also at developing new technology batteries. “These are investments for projects that aim to reach or exceed the state of the art”, Šefčovič assured, citing, among others, solid or sodium-based batteries and recycled components.
Mr Breton drew attention to the fact that it was necessary to think in terms of ecosystems and to consider the whole value chain. The whole thing should not be forgotten: the research centres, of course, but also the mining complex, citing the exploitation of lithium.
The Battery Alliance, which started as a Franco-German initiative, has grown in size. Today, 14 Member States have taken part in the entity.
For the Vice-President’s statement: http://bit.ly/2NghpHw (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)