New European Partnerships According to its official statement the European Commission launched 11 new European Partnerships together with industry. These Partnerships aim to boost investments in research and innovation and […]
According to its official statement the European Commission launched 11 new European Partnerships together with industry. These Partnerships aim to boost investments in research and innovation and to overcome major climate and sustainability challenges. As a result, Europe will be the first climate neutral economy and deliver on the European Green Deal.
In fact, the Partnerships are in line with the goals of the ‘twin’ green and digital transition. They will receive over €8 billion from Horizon Europe, the new EU research and innovation program for 2021-2027. More specific, the total commitments, including those from private partners and from Member States, amount to around €22 billion.
This critical mass of funding allows the Partnerships to pursue innovative solutions on a large scale. For example, they try to reduce emissions from energy-intensive industries and hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as shipping and steel-making. Furthermore, they develop and deploy high-performance batteries, sustainable fuels, artificial intelligence tools, data technologies, robotics, and more.
We can see three key take away from these Partnerships: Supply chain, Investment and Battery
As we see the other article about supply chain, it is time to rethink it. Thus, the European Commission is without exception. The continent wants to increase capacities as well as productions of the important products including a semiconductor.
Even though we live in the digital age, the devices that connect us with the digital world are indispensable. For example, semiconductors are necessary for not only electronics but also automotive. Digital companies gather consumer’s data through electronics such as smartphones. However, as they cannot gather data without electronics, electronics do not work without semiconductors. Thus, it is natural that many companies want to secure these important products by themselves instead of relying on imports.
When countries bring back their supply chain to them, it is not an easy job. This is because the current supply chain is very complicated and well organized through different countries in the world. In addition to this, the labor cost of developing countries like Asian countries is cheaper than that of Western countries.
Thus, if they want the supply chain back, huge investment is necessary. For instance, the US, in other words Biden administration, has already decided to invest in the country for this purpose. As the US has done, the Partnership aims to improve the supply chain in Europe.
Finally, like semiconductors, batteries are also important products within few decades. This is because most countries across globe must accomplish carbon neutrality. Thus, many people in the world feel that electric vehicles will replace gasoline or diesel engine cars in the near future.
Even though technological advancements are still going, the cost of batteries accounts for large part of EV’s price. Therefore, if countries try to make EVs more popular, they must reduce cost of batteries. In this sense, the Partnership does make sense.
