Europe-China: A New Joint Venture Strategy for Cleantech

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Author

Head of Energy and Climate Studies and Resident Fellow

Joseph Dellatte joined Institut Montaigne in 2022. He currently serves as Head of Energy and Climate Studies and Resident Fellow within the Institute’s Asia Program, where he leads the team dedicated to energy and climate issues.

Europe stands at a decisive crossroads in its clean energy transition. The critical technologies it needs—batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and other key components—are today largely sourced from China or deeply embedded in Chinese-controlled value chains. While Chinese firms export massively from their domestic base, they are also rapidly expanding overseas, including into Europe, with few remaining restrictions. By contrast, European companies have long faced strict joint-venture requirements and persistent market-access barriers in China—conditions that have significantly shaped China’s technological catch-up.

The central question is now whether Europe will continue down a path of structural dependence, becoming primarily a buyer—or at best an assembler—of clean technologies designed, financed, and controlled in China. Such a trajectory would weaken Europe’s industrial sovereignty, undermine its long-term competitiveness, and erode control over strategic data and infrastructures.

Building on Institut Montaigne’s previous work on reducing Europe’s critical dependencies in clean technologies, this paper confronts the joint-venture question head-on. It argues that, in strategically critical sectors, access to the European market should be conditional on the establishment of robust local value chains—through European-majority joint ventures and carefully designed local content requirements with Chinese partners.

Drawing on this foundation, the paper assesses the legal gaps in the European Union’s current framework and puts forward a comprehensive set of recommendations. It details EU-level initiatives, Member State actions, strategic industrial instruments, and a concrete 2026–2035 roadmap to secure Europe’s industrial base, strengthen its technological autonomy, and anchor its cleantech future on resilient, competitive foundations.

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Headlines

July 2025

Cleantech: Reducing
Europe’s Strategic
Dependence on China

The EU is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, but remains dependent on critical materials dominated by China. This note explores the geopolitical challenges and the levers for sustainable European industrial sovereignty.

Read the Policy Paper