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, BASF, BMZ Group, Varta 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 with its German subsidiary Opel and French battery maker Saft.