"Northvolt is a matter of European independence," says Ebba Busch.
Ebba Busch will meet with EU Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné on Monday to "push for the need for European green battery manufacturing."
The message is that support from the battery aid package, announced in a new EU plan for the automotive industry two weeks ago, should not be limited to newly established companies.
"Independence"
– The money must go to companies that are already operational, that can scale up and provide genuine competition to, for example, Chinese battery manufacturers, Busch told Swedish journalists in Brussels.
– Northvolt currently has more production running than ever before, even during this restructuring period. We want to safeguard this, sustain it, and enable a new owner to step in. This is about European battery manufacturing as a whole. Northvolt is much bigger than just an issue for Skellefteå and Sweden. It is a matter of European independence, the minister argues.
"German nuclear power"
In parallel, Busch is also pushing for a more favorable EU stance on nuclear power. On Monday morning, she led a meeting among other nuclear-friendly countries in the EU to lobby Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen.
– We were very clear with the Commission: It is necessary to pave the way for investments in more base load power, otherwise network costs will skyrocket, and we will see more friction between countries, says Busch.
At the same time, she looks forward to a major energy shift in Germany, following the federal election in February.
– It is clear that I hope for a German nuclear renaissance now.