Critical Metals: What if Europe Imposed the Chinese Method on Beijing?
Local content rules, EU-majority joint ventures, and visa limits for engineers... France's Institut Montaigne think tank unveils bold proposals to cut Europe's reliance on China.
What if, for once, the European Union was as combative as China or the United States? By adopting Beijing's or Washington's methods, Europe could reduce its heavy dependence on China for critical metals essential to climate change technologies. The key to this revolution is 'local content,' argues Joseph Dellatte, an expert at the Institut Montaigne think tank. Brussels could 'impose 50% local content on energy transition products sold in Europe,' such as solar panels, wind turbines, electrolyzers, batteries and electric vehicles.
This threshold would enable 'a significant proportion of the critical components of an electric vehicle,' for example, to be manufactured in Europe, according to Dellatte, a specialist in energy, the environment and Asia, in a report that puts forward nine recommendations for reducing Europe's dependence on China in green technologies.
Imposing more than just assembly in European factories
In sectors where it lags significantly behind, such as LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, Europe must require Chinese companies…
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