Euro Manganese Inc. (the "Company") welcomes the proposal by the European Commission (the "Commission") and recent remarks made by Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on financial support for European producers of electric vehicle batteries. Euro Manganese especially supports the approach for a dedicated budget which will prioritise the best performers in sustainability, traceability, and circularity.
Starting in 2024, up to €3 billion in funding is proposed to be provided via the Commission’s Innovation Fund to incentivize investment in the European Union’s ("EU") battery manufacturing capacity. The Commission intends to set up a dedicated instrument under the Innovation Fund to provide support, possibly as a fixed premium to European manufacturers of the most sustainable batteries, creating impact across the entire battery value chain, including its upstream raw material segment.
Commenting on the news, the European Battery Alliance ("EBA250") specifically highlighted the need for EU incentives for upstream raw materials. “In addition, further efforts on the upstream segments of the value chain are also required. Upstream activities such as raw and active materials, should also be supported where lack of funding and long lead times affect in particular the processing and refining of raw materials.”
This proposed funding supports the new requirements set out in the recently adopted EU Battery Regulation, which aims to minimise the carbon footprint of batteries and requires due diligence on the sustainable, ethical and transparent supply of raw materials. The goal of the Battery Passport is to foster the production of batteries with the lowest social and environmental footprint in the world.
Dr. Matthew James, President & CEO of Euro Manganese, commented:
“Euro Manganese welcomes this recent proposal from the European Commission, which will support EU battery supply chains, including upstream sustainable raw material and refining production in the EU. Together with EIT InnoEnergy and the European Battery Alliance, of which we are a member, we support the Commission’s approach of prioritizing the best performance in the EU battery supply chain across sustainability, traceability, and circularity. On each of these points, Euro Manganese is well positioned to deliver. Being a tailings recycling project, as well as the only manganese resource in Europe, we will produce low-carbon, fully-traceable, battery-grade manganese for the EV supply chain. We look forward to seeing this fund rolled out and benefitting from its implementation.”
Source: https://www.mn25.ca/