The European automotive sector called for the entire value chain to be relocated, at a conference organised by the European Parliament’s Renew Europe political group on Tuesday 28 January.
Peter Tom Jones, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals at KU Leuven University, has drawn a gloomy conclusion: “The mistake we made over the last decade was that we have basically given up on the upstream part of the supply chain for raw materials”. This economic strategy was valid in a globalised world, in a context of liberalised trade. “Those times are over, we now live in a post-Western world, in a world of protectionism, of dissolved nationalism”, was his analysis. In his view, the automotive industry’s entire strategy needs to be reconsidered: “We have to start mining and refining critical metals also in the European Union and the broader European continent”.
A vision shared by the Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas. “For me, it is clear that we need a whole-value-chain approach, from sourcing raw materials to the recycling of batteries”, he said at the start of the conference. “The Clean Industrial Deal, which will be presented in February, will tackle key challenges, including ensuring access to affordable energy and advancing circularity”, he promised (see EUROPE 13565/1).
Developing end-of-life management. For her part, Catherine Ricou, Managing Director of Veolia’s hazardous waste activities in Europe, said that one of the key issues is managing the end-of-life of electric vehicles. The aim is to “close the loop” by creating a framework that encourages recycling, which is currently too weak. “We need a research programme and funding to develop battery recycling technologies, because there are many segments missing”, she explained.
She also felt that the classification of waste needed to be changed so that lithium batteries could be dismantled and the ‘black mass’, an active powder made up of numerous metals and metal oxides that could be recycled, could be processed. “Today, more than 90% of the ‘black mass’ is exported to Asia for refining”, she said critically.
On the subject of funding, Massimo Gasparon, Director of the European Raw Materials Alliance, called for a change in the rules governing the EU’s taxonomy. “Many investors would like to invest in the first part of the value chain, i.e. exploration, mining and processing, but they cannot because regulations prevent them from investing in activities that are classified as harmful”, he explained.
The EU must act quickly. Peter Tom Jones also felt that the way the industry was conceived of in Europe was counter-productive. “In Europe, we think in silos, we think in small components that are disconnected from each other”, he lamented. In a press release published the day before, Alexandr Vondra MEP (ECR, Czech) regretted “the exclusion [from the strategic dialogue with the European automotive industry] of key players in the European automotive value chain, such as small and medium-sized manufacturers, suppliers and innovators”. This “sends a troubling signal”, he said. This dialogue is due to begin on Thursday 30 January (see EUROPE 13561/7).
In a report published the same day, the Jacques Delors Institute recommended that policymakers “couple internal reforms and investments with a proactive, export-oriented trade strategy”. In his view, by leveraging its technological leadership, the EU can secure greater market access and drive the global transition towards sustainable mobility. However, he calls for swift action, as “the window of opportunity is closing rapidly”. The EU must act decisively to build a new automotive ecosystem that can rival those of its competitors. “Failure to do so risks a decline in the EU’s automotive industry, significant social and economic repercussions, and the loss of its technological edge in a sector poised to define the future of mobility”, he warned.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/f9m (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)