The EU failed to force Chinese companies to transfer technology! A single ban plugged the loophole, and Brussels was probably stunned.
Inside the European Commission building, officials once confidently drafted new rules - requiring Chinese companies producing in Europe to share their battery technology knowledge with European competitors, otherwise they would not be eligible for EU subsidies. Documents disclosed by the German newspaper "Handelsblatt" in November last year showed that this "technology for subsidies" mechanism would become part of the EU's new clean technology trading rules, and would be accompanied by a 1 billion euro grant for battery development.
The Financial Times cited statements from two senior EU officials, saying that this mechanism would come into effect in December last year as part of stricter new clean technology trading rules. EU officials even argued that European companies must also share their trade secrets when doing business in China.
"For the first five years we sold machines, then the Chinese made them themselves," said a European manager describing the process of technology transfer. Now the EU is trying to reverse roles, using market access and technology transfer requirements to deal with Chinese companies' technological leadership. The difficulties of the European battery industry have intensified this attempt. The "European battery king" Northvolt, once expected to lead, has faced serious financial problems and failed to meet its stated growth targets. The Swedish government even ruled out the possibility of rescuing the company, and the European local battery industry is on the brink of collapse.
"If Europe does not put forward more demands, we will not be able to learn from the technology. We are just an assembly plant," said Julia Polisakanova, senior director of the EU environmental organization "Transport & Environment". This statement represented the general anxiety of the European industrial sector. However, when the "China Prohibited Export and Restricted Export Technology Catalogue" was released on July 15, the confidence in the Brussels meeting rooms turned into shock. This document precisely covered the battery core technologies most desired by the EU, completely blocking the possibility of technology transfer.
The "China Prohibited Export and Restricted Export Technology Catalogue" has thrown a "game-changer" into the global new energy industry, specifically including three core control points: lithium iron phosphate preparation technology for batteries, lithium manganese iron phosphate preparation technology for batteries, and lithium phosphate cathode raw material preparation technology. At the same time, the entry for non-ferrous metal smelting technology was modified, adding five lithium-related technology control points.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837953292154116/
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