The 2018 European action plan on the production of electric batteries should be updated by 2025 to bring it into line with the objective that the European Union has set itself of putting an end to the marketing of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines by 2035, according to the European Court of Auditors in a report presented on Monday 19 June.
According to the European auditors, the Commission has in fact implemented the main measures (the creation of stakeholder platforms across the entire value chain, a new regulatory framework, increased financial support for research) of the current action plan (see EUROPE 12022/9).
“But this plan did not include quantified targets with deadlines, and the Commission did not estimate the level of battery production that the EU would need to achieve in order to meet the twin objectives of climate neutrality and maintaining a competitive automotive sector”, they note. They added: “These shortcomings increase the risk that the ‘zero emission’ target set by the Commission for 2035 will not be achieved because of insufficient battery production, or that it will be achieved by importing batteries or electric vehicles. (...) This also increases uncertainty about the security of supply of raw materials needed to maintain production in the EU”.
The EU has clear targets for CO2 emissions, while those for the production of electric batteries are less clear, noted Annemie Turtelboom, the member of the Court responsible for the report, in front of a number of journalists. She expressed the view that if the EU is unable to increase its production, it runs the risk of missing the 2035 deadline or becoming dependent on third countries such as China and the United States. And this requires secure access to raw materials through long-term contracts, as extraction projects in the EU and the recycling of used batteries will take time.
The Court of Auditors also recommends stepping up the monitoring of the implementation of the EU action plan by using regular, up-to-date data. The overview of EU funding for the battery value chain could also be improved, as could the coordination and targeting of this European funding.
View the Court of Auditors’ report: https://aeur.eu/f/7ld (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)