EUROBAT, the Association of European Automotive and Industrial Battery Manufacturers, has welcomed the strong focus on battery manufacturing in the EU’s new ‘Europe on the Move’ policy package.
The European Commission launched the policies to make Europe’s transport sector, which employs more than 11 million people, more competitive, better connected and cleaner. The policy document says it wants to “ensure that the best clean, connected and automated mobility solutions, transport equipment and vehicles will be developed, offered and manufactured in Europe.”
Batteries will be “a fundamental cornerstone” of the policies, according to EUROBAT, and “the production of all different battery technologies in Europe will be paramount for the competitiveness” of various sectors, including transport.
The European Commission aims to deliver “smart, socially fair and competitive mobility” by 2025, using legislation, infrastructure investment, research and innovation.
EUROBAT, however, warned that the European battery industry is facing fierce international competition, with countries such as China, USA, India and South Korea investing heavily in the development of advanced battery technologies.
The EU’s plan is in line with EUROBAT’s recent proposal of a 2030 EU Battery Strategy. The European Commission says it is planning to “support industry-led initiatives for a full battery value chain in the EU that can be used for mobility and non-mobility applications (energy storage)”.
EUROBAT called the new proposals a “forward-looking strategy” and, in a statement, said it “strongly welcomes the present initiative of the European Commission and is ready to cooperate with the European Commission, Member States and other policy-makers and stakeholders to define the building blocks of this 2030 EU Battery Strategy.”
Vice-president for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič (pictured) said: “We see the world of transport changing fundamentally. Europe must seize this opportunity and shape the future of mobility. This is our unique chance to ‘reinvent the wheel’. I would like our industry not only to be part of the global change but to set the tone.”
Vice-president for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen sees it as “an opportunity to modernise the entire European economy and push it in a more sustainable direction.”
