The finance ministers of Germany, France and Italy will deepen their cooperation to ensure access to critical raw materials essential for their industry, they announced at a joint press conference in Berlin on Monday.
Concerned about European industrialists’ dependence on China for a range of raw materials, the European Commission presented a regulation on March 16 to secure supplies of everything from lithium to cobalt, including nickel, for car batteries.
The three ministers, Robert Habeck of Germany, Bruno Le Maire of France and Adolfo Urso of Italy, called for a “quick conclusion” of the discussions for an “ambitious” text. The regulation presented by the European executive can still be thoroughly reviewed in the coming months by the 27 member countries of the EU and the MEPs before it is finalized.
An investment fund of 500 million euros
“To succeed in the green and digital transition, we must help our industrial companies to secure access to the critical raw materials they need,” said Bruno Le Maire. “If the loi européenne is an important first stage, our meeting aujourd’hui à Berlin” is “the occasion d’échanger entre gouvernements, ainsi qu’avec les representants de l’industrie, pour aller plus loin”, at -el he says.
The Commission’s plan, designed to ensure the supply of raw materials to the Old Continent, will in particular encourage the establishment of mining projects and refining plants on European soil. Berlin, Paris and Rome have asked to include aluminum on the list of critical materials, according to a statement from the three countries issued on Monday.
To invest in strategic materials, Paris has created an investment fund that will be endowed with 500 million euros of public money, Italy also up to one billion euros. For Germany, Robert Habeck also mentioned the possibility of a fund of up to one billion euros. “There is still no agreement within the German government ministries,” he said, but it is in preparation.
Source: BFM TV
