Batteries are crucial for the transition to a sustainable
economic model, both at the industrial level, but also for
households and transport. However, around 80% of batteries in the
world are produced in Asia.
Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament support the
European Commission’s
plan to stimulate
public and private cooperation for the development of a
sustainable battery manufacturing in Europe. This is the only way
to ensure a competitive industry for the future and also the key
to job creation in the industrial and transport
sectors.
This is why S&D MEPs Ismail Ertug and Pavel Poc
organised a conference yesterday in the context of the
parliamentary working group for batteries, launched by the
Intergroup on “
Climate Change,
Biodiversity, and Sustainable Development”.
Ismail Ertug MEP, who is the S&D spokesperson on
transport and chairs the Friends of the Battery working group,
said:
"For a sustainable mobility and industry we need ambitious
CO2-targets for vehicles, a European battery-cell production and
a comprehensive network for alternative fuels. Only if this three
elements go hand in hand we can combine the goals of
sustainability and prosperity, for a cleaner environment and a
more competitive economy that preserves and creates jobs – this
is the vision of a Social Democratic industrial policy of the
21th century."
S&D MEP Pavel Poc, who chairs the parliamentary
intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Sustainable
Development”, said:
“Effective and affordable batteries are the ultimate condition
for the transition to clean energy systems. The 21st century will
be all about an effective energy storage, electro-mobility and
other clean energy systems.
“I take it as a great opportunity for the European business to
take back the battery market, estimated at 250 billion euros per
year by 2025 and European Parliament is ready to help. We have
formed a cross-party Energy Storage Working Group within the
official parliamentary Intergroup for Climate Change,
Biodiversity and Sustainable just for this. It is not only about
electro-mobiles, but also storage systems for factories,
households and ships. I am pleased by the recent development
within the European Battery Alliance (EBA), the collaboration is
the key here.”
Other speakers in the conference were Maroš ŠefÄoviÄ,
vice-president of the European Commission for Energy Union,
responsible for the Energy Union and the initiator of the
European Battery Alliance; Victor Trapp, from
Fraunhofer Institute;
Patrick de Metz, chairman of
RECHARGE, and Julia
Poliscanova, manager of
Clean Vehicles and Air
Quality, Transport and Environment.
