EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told Euronews that Europe must face greater short-term expenses in order to lessen its reliance on China for clean-energy technologies, cautioning that postponing action will make it more difficult and costly to resolve the strategic vulnerability.
He described the situation as a “dangerous and uncomfortable” weakness for both Europe’s economic stability and climate aspirations. “This will stay with us for years to come, because the dependencies in many domains have simply become too large.”
Important segments of the European battery supply chain are already dominated by Chinese businesses. According to Wood Mackenzie, they account for approximately 88% of imports of lithium-ion batteries and more than 80% of the bloc’s home battery energy storage industry. The EU has a long-standing reliance on China for essential resources.
Since the construction of storage infrastructure is lagging behind the rapid spread of wind and solar power, the issue has become a higher priority on the EU’s political agenda. During a recent meeting under the Cyprus EU Presidency, EU energy ministers talked about the bloc’s reliance on storage manufactured in China.
There is strain on the broader trade partnership as well. European leaders demanded a rebalance of what they refer to as “unsustainable” economic relations after the EU’s trade gap with China hit a record €1 billion per day in 2025.
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