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Published on: 04/22/2026 - 12:35 Modified on: 04/22/2026 - 1:12 p.m.

Traveling this Wednesday in Allier, Emmanuel Macron inaugurates the Échassières lithium mine. A strategic project for the French battery industry, while the oil crisis revives the question of energy and industrial sovereignty.

By inaugurating the Échassières mine on Wednesday April 22, Emmanuel Macron is not only supporting an industrial project: he is staging a French response to new dependencies. Because behind the rise of electric cars, revived by the oil crisis, there is a metal that has become strategic: lithium.

Led by Imerys, the EMILI project plans an underground mine 400 meters deep, producing 34,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year. Enough to equip around 700,000 electric cars each year, twice the sales of 100% electric models in France last year.

The total investment reached 1.8 billion euros, with support from the French State and the European Investment Bank.

A strategic, but contested, mine

However, production is not expected before 2030, after several delays. Brussels considers the site strategic within the framework of its Critical Raw Materials Act, intended to reduce European dependence, particularly on China.

But on the ground, the project arouses strong local opposition around water, the environment and nuisances.

The file therefore poses a very political question: how far is Europe prepared to go to secure its industrial autonomy? This is also where Macron wants to move forward, by promising faster procedures for projects deemed strategic.

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