Second European EV battery consortium underway -Handelsblatt

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany has agreed in principle with eight other European nations to set up a second consortium for the production and recycling of battery cells for cars, daily Handelsblatt reported, citing economy minister Peter Altmaier.

German firms BMW <BMWG.DE>, BASF <BASFn.DE>, BMZ Group, Varta <VAR1.DE> are among the companies involved in the initiative that seeks to put regional players in a position to compete with dominant Asian suppliers, the paper cited sources as saying.

France and Germany in April initiated a first European battery cell consortium, including carmaker PSA <PEUP.PA> with its German subsidiary Opel and French battery maker Saft.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Riham Alkousaa)