Joint statement by Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Maroš Šefčovič, and Jan Christian Vestre, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry

Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, Maroš Šefčovič, and Jan Christian Vestre, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry, have released the following joint statement on enhanced political and industrial cooperation on the strategic value chains of batteries and raw materials.

The European Union and Norway enjoy a deep and long-standing relationship as neighbours and partners, sharing common political objectives and fundamental values, while being part of the Single Market through the European Economic Area (EEA).

Given the urgent need to tackle climate change, and secure supplies of sustainable energy, materials and technologies instrumental to decarbonisation and the competitiveness of their economies, while increasing resilience of strategic ecosystems, the EU and Norway share the ambition to strengthen and expand their cooperation in the area of the raw materials and battery value chains.

This will pave the way to a strategic partnership, built on a novel comprehensive framework for future-oriented and long-term cooperation, further strengthening political relations and economic ties between the EU and Norway. Development of integrated sustainable value chains for minerals, metals and batteries will help address strategic dependencies and create green long-term growth and high-quality jobs.

The Parties agreed to explore enhanced cooperation in the area of raw materials and batteries with regard to the integration of the materials and battery value chains, environmental, social and governance criteria, research and innovation, and financial and investment instruments.

The Parties agreed on the following initial areas of action: 

• Norway will participate in the ministerial meetings of the European Battery Alliance.

• Norway intends to participate in and contribute to the European Battery Academy.

• The two Parties will discuss the application of the rules of origin laid down in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement for battery packs and battery cells of Norwegian origin installed in electric vehicles produced in and traded between the EU and the UK.

• Industrial actors, with the support of the European Alliances and Norwegian Associations, will explore business opportunities in view of developing battery and raw materials projects in Norway and the EU, including at a jointly organised business networking event.

• The two Parties will work towards advancing best practices for resource classification and mapping, including mapping mineral potential from waste sources.

• The two Parties will organise a joint Tracing Net-Zero Battery Minerals event to support research and innovation.

Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, together with Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, and Minister Jan Christian Vestre will provide political guidance and strategic steer for the work carried out under the partnership. They will meet on a regular basis to monitor progress and decide on next steps.

A working group consisting of senior officials and experts from Norway and the EU will be created to develop a strategic partnership accompanied by a memorandum of understanding and a roadmap, in line with this joint statement.

Industrial actors, business associations and alliances, and stakeholders will be encouraged to engage in efforts related to the partnership, notably by exploring business opportunities and developing joint industrial projects along the entire battery and raw materials value chains.

The partnership on raw materials and batteries could be followed by partnerships in other areas of green industrial policy of mutual interest to both parties.

The future strategic partnership will be coherent with the EEA agreement and will contribute to the EU-Norway Green Alliance, announced on 23 February 2022, in the Joint Statement by President Ursula von der Leyen and Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway.