“We intend to immediately begin negotiations on a targeted critical minerals agreemnt”, announced European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and US President, Joe Biden, in a joint statement on Friday 10 March after their meeting in Washington.
This is a positive development for the EU in its negotiations with Washington on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The future agreement on raw materials should allow the EU to be treated as a trading partner of the United States, and thus allow European companies to access certain US subsidies under the IRA, especially on batteries.
“The objective is clear: to have an agreement so that critical raw materials extracted or processed in the EU are recognised as if they were sourced or processed in the US, so that they can access the benefits granted in the US”, said Ms von der Leyen. She added that a roadmap is already on the table to reach such an agreement.
In addition, the two partners have initiated a Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue to coordinate subsidies on both sides of the Atlantic (EUROPE 13138/21). “It is important to know, on both sides of the Atlantic, what kind of incentives are given to the clean technology industry, to make sure that we join forces”, said the EU Commission President.
This dialogue should be an integral part of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC), according to the joint statement.
Ukraine
Joe Biden and Ursula von der Leyen also discussed potential coordination actions to target third countries that support Russian war efforts.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/5r0 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)