Ebba Busch is meeting with the EU's Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné on Monday to "emphasize the need for European green battery production".
The message is that not only start-ups need to be supported with the battery support package announced in a new EU plan for the automotive industry two weeks ago.
"Independence"
The money must go to companies that are already up and running, which could scale up and provide real competition to, for example, some of the Chinese battery manufacturers, says Busch to Swedish journalists in Brussels.
Northvolt has more production than they've ever had going on now, even in this bankruptcy situation. This is what we want to preserve, this is what we want to hold on to and make possible for a new owner to step in. This is about European battery production in general. Northvolt is so much bigger than a question for Skellefteå and for Sweden. It's a question of European independence, according to the minister.
German nuclear power
In parallel, Busch is also pushing for a more benevolent EU attitude towards nuclear power. On Monday morning, she led a meeting among other nuclear power-friendly countries in the EU to pressure Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen.
We were very clear with the Commission: You need to pave the way for investments in more base load power, otherwise the costs for the grid will skyrocket and we'll see more tensions between countries, says Busch.
At the same time, she looks forward to a significant energy turnaround in Germany, following the federal election in February.
It's clear that I hope for a German nuclear power renaissance now.
