cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42997414
The EU is considering legally forcing industries to reduce purchases from China to insulate Europe from future hostile acts, the industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, says.
He made his remarks as the European Commission unveiled a €3bn (£2.63bn) strategy to reduce its dependency on China for critical raw materials amid a global scramble caused by Beijing’s “weaponisation” of supplies of everything from chips to rare earths.
The ReSourceEU programme will seek to de-risk and diversify the bloc’s supply chains for key commodities with a funding initiative to support 25-30 strategic projects in the sector.
It will include new rules to stop scrap aluminium leaving the bloc, recycling of magnets used in car batteries and a new €2bn a year fund backed by the European Investment Bank to support industries diversifying away from cheap Chinese supplies.
Underlining the threats posed by over dependency on China, Séjourné said if industry did not respond, the commission reserved the right to introduce legislation.
“We would force European companies legally to diversify their sources of supply. That is not the case now, and it is not what is proposed in the plan [ReSourceEU] but this is a wake up call, a strong wake up call,” said Séjourné.
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Senior EU officials said that “while the direction is clear” there was a need to “accelerate the process” as China continued to “weaponise” its hold on raw materials for “geopolitical purposes”.
To kickstart the implementation of the strategy, two projects, a molybdenum extraction in Greenland and a lithium mine in Germany will get immediate funding.
The EU will also look at financial support to enable companies to buy from more expensive sources than China and it will set up a “raw materials platform” that will pool company orders and build joint stockpiles.
New restrictions will be introduced on scrap exports in 2026 of the metal and of scrap copper if necessary.
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The EU said the strategy was designed to reduce the impact of “market shocks” such as the disruption to the car industry caused by the recent, now lifted, ban on exports of chips by China in response to the Dutch government taking control of the Chinese-owned chip firm Nexperia.
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Up to €3bn in funding will be mobilised within the next 12 months, with €2bn a year made available by the European Investment Bank in the form of loans, venture debt and private debt plus financing such as loans already issued to a Finnish lithium mine project Keliber.
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When do we focus on America too? We’re too dependent on the US.
If my boss tells me i need to purchase our PCBs from EU vendors, i will tell him that he is going bankrupt in a single month…
But maybe then PCB manufacturing industry will actually appear in EU. Because currently it is a joke. At least from a hobbyist point of view (10x prices for less features).
If you get your pcb:s made in China, better prepare for them keeping copies of your design for future counterfeit opportunities.
Thats fine, nothing special about the designs. Also bold of you to assume that local ones wouldnt do that. Tech companies are getting away with stealing copyrighted content all the time.
I’m not assuming locals wouldn’t do that. Within EU you have some chances of success in court in case of infringement. Good luck doing that overseas.
That is the dumbest reversal of policy. NOW They notice that a global economy might have disadvantages and that local sourcing might be a good idea? And…
…and build joint stockpiles.
…where is their just in time god now? What’s next, building financial reserves to weather tough economic times?
I’ll cautiously take it, but I suspect all that’s happening is that the car industry wants their resources and the EU is supposed to “do something”.
the EU is supposed to “do something”.
The first funding instruments are in place with some of them already issued.
Stockpiles should have been built in the past already. European managers and politicians talked about it during the pandemic, but didn’t do much, but the learning curve might have been steep in the more recent past as Europe might have learned that foreign countries - particularly China - aren’t reliable.
