The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, and the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Jan Christian Vestre, issued a joint statement on Monday 27 June on creating a “strategic partnership” to strengthen their mutual cooperation both politically and industrially in order to consolidate strategic value chains in batteries and raw materials.
For example, it was agreed that Norway will participate in the ministerial meetings of the European Battery Alliance as well as in the European Battery Academy.
Both sides are committing to exchanging best practices on resource classification and mapping, including for the “mineral potential of waste sources”. Both parties will organise a joint event on mineral tracing for emission-neutral batteries.
They will also clarify their cooperation in the application of the rules of origin set out in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement for batteries and battery cells of Norwegian origin installed in electric vehicles produced in the EU and traded between the EU and the UK.
Both sides intend to prepare political guidelines in the near future and will meet regularly to monitor progress and decide on the next steps. To this end, a working group of senior officials and experts from Norway and the EU will be set up to develop a strategic partnership with a Memorandum of Understanding and a roadmap. Industrial players will be invited to engage in the partnership by developing joint industrial projects along the battery and raw material value chains.
This partnership could be followed by other industrial policy partnerships “of mutual interest” to both parties, the EU institution says. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)