'Red tape' may threaten EU battery sector: lead industry group

"The lead  battery industry, which is meeting at its bi-annual conference in Austria this week, has highlighted the EU as the number one risk to the multi-billion-dollar manufacturing capability worldwide," the ILA said.

Proposals by the European Commission to restrict the use of lead and lead compounds will "jeopardise the entire industry" if EU officials successfully wave through new rules requiring authorization for the key components used in the production of batteries, according to the ILA's Andy Bush.

Bush will tell delegates at the European Lead Battery Conference on Wednesday that "we are facing in Europe the very real possibility of regulatory restrictions that could ultimately jeopardise our entire industry. We have to explain to the EU just how much harm this would do not only to this industry but to the Commission's own energy transformation aspirations to reduce harmful emissions and boost electrification," the ILA said.

EU officials could ask the REACH chemicals regulatory committee, which is made up of member state representatives, to restrict the use of lead compounds as early as this month, the ILA said.

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