A new European Battery Academy was launched on Wednesday 23 February in Brussels on the sidelines of the 6th Battery Alliance meeting.
The European Commission, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and EIT InnoEnergy have signed a letter of intent for a €10 million grant under the REACT-EU programme.
The Academy aims to co-ordinate the Europe-wide re-skilling and skills acquisition efforts required to meet the needs of the battery sector, which expects to employ 800,000 additional workers by 2025. This announcement is part of the ‘EU Skills Agenda’.
On this occasion, the European Commission presented its priority actions for the year 2022: - achieve agreement quickly on the regulation enshrining sustainable batteries; - further diversify raw material sources; - streamline authorisation procedures for raw materials projects.
Facilitating access to European project finance with the support of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), among others, and launching national programmes for retraining and skills upgrading are also among the institution’s priorities.
The high-level meeting, chaired by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, was attended by Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit, 15 EU Member States, EIB Vice-Presidents Thomas Östros and Ambroise Fayolle, EBRD First Vice-President Jürgen Rigterink, MEP Hildegard Bentele (EPP, Germany, rapporteur on the European Raw Materials Strategy - see EUROPE 12839/18) and EIT InnoEnergy CEO Diego Pavía. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)