The French Minister Delegate for Industry, attached to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, told two media outlets, including EUROPE, on Thursday 25 November, on the sidelines of the Competitiveness Council of the EU, that the priorities of the French Presidency of the EU Council will be threefold: decarbonisation, strategic autonomy and fair competition.
Welcoming the results achieved by Slovenia on the thorny digital DMA/DSA dossier (see EUROPE 12840/10), the minister therefore emphasised the decarbonisation of European industry and the implementation of the industrial component of the European Green Deal and the ‘Fit for 55’ package for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, she indicated that France will pursue discussions on the analysis of Europe’s strategic dependencies and will work to support the acceleration of important projects of common European interest (IPCEI) (see EUROPE 12840/8).
Specifically, she mentioned the IPCEIs ‘hydrogen’, ‘health’ and ‘electronics and micro-connectivity’. The challenge is not to move from one dependency to another, she commented, citing cobalt and lithium as raw materials, particularly in the green transition.
The third priority of the future Presidency will be fair competition and, in particular, access to the single market for third country actors. The Presidency thus stressed the importance of closing the draft regulation on foreign subsidies. An “emblematic” text, according to the minister, which should make it possible to keep the Single Market open without being “naive”.
In general, the minister delegate emphasised the role of the EU Council’s ‘Competitiveness’ configuration, which will have to strengthen its coordination with other configurations, particularly the one dedicated to the environment.
Responding to EUROPE on shortages of critical inputs, the minister explained that there were three ways to reduce dependencies: by increasing domestic production, diversifying external supply chains and, finally, by building an efficient recycling industry.
However, this third option will only work in the long term, while the appropriate recycling chains are created and the products are available for recycling. The life expectancy of a car battery is about 20 years, she said.
With regard to semiconductors, the objective would be to restore European production’s market share, while moving upmarket, by including the entire electronics “continuum”, the minister delegate said. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)