Europe, says von der Leyen, ‘is determined to lead the clean technology revolution. For our companies and our people, this means turning skills into quality jobs and innovation into mass production, thanks to a simpler and faster framework. Better access to funding will allow our leading clean technology industries to grow quickly’.
Regulatory simplification
The first pillar of the plan concerns a simpler regulatory framework.
The Commission will propose a Net-Zero Industry Act, which will identify targets for net-zero industrial capacity for 2030, ensuring simplified and fast permitting.
The framework will be complemented by the Critical Raw Materials Act, to ensure adequate access to those materials, such as rare earths, that are vital for the production of key technologies. In addition, the reform of the electricity market design will ensure that consumers benefit from the lower costs of renewable energy.
Faster access to funding
The second pillar of the plan will speed up investment and funding for clean technology production in Europe, starting with public funding, which can unlock the enormous amounts of private funding needed for the green transition.
The Commission intends to ensure a level playing field within the single market, remaining within the bounds of free competition, while at the same time making it easier for Member States to grant the aid needed to speed up the green transition. To this end, the Commission has introduced a ‘Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework’. It will also revise the General Block Exemption Regulation in the light of the Green Deal, raising the notification thresholds for support for green investment. Among other things, this will help to streamline and further simplify the approval of IPCEI projects (projects funded at European level, from national budgets).
The Commission will make it easier to use existing EU funds to finance the innovation, manufacturing and deployment of clean technologies. It is also exploring ways to obtain more joint funding at EU level to support investment in net-zero technology manufacturing.
In the short term, the Commission will work with Member States, focusing in particular on existing funds such as REPowerEU, InvestEU and the Innovation Fund, on a bridging solution worth around 250 billion to provide swift and targeted support.
In the medium term, the Commission intends to act structurally, proposing a European Sovereignty Fund as part of the review of the multiannual financial framework before the summer of 2023.
Boosting skills
The Commission estimates that between 35% and 40% of all jobs could be affected by the green transition. Developing the skills needed for well-paid, quality jobs will therefore be a priority. 2023 has in fact been proclaimed the European Year of Skills, and the third pillar will focus on this.
The Commission will propose setting up Net-Zero Industry Academies to launch upskilling and reskilling programmes in strategic industries. It also aims to combine a ‘skills-first’ approach, which recognises actual skills, with existing qualification-based approaches. Finally, it will facilitate access for third-country nationals to EU labour markets in priority sectors, and will take measures to promote and align public and private funding for skills development.
Open trade for resilient supply chains
The fourth pillar will concern global cooperation and making trade work for the green transition, in line with the principles of fair competition and open trade. In practical terms, this means making supplies of raw materials more resilient.
The new initiatives proposed in this direction are a Critical Raw Materials Club, Clean Tech/Net-Zero industrial partnerships and an export credit strategy.
The extraordinary meeting of the European Council to ratify all these proposals is scheduled for 9 and 10 February. It will be a decisive moment for the future of our continent’s industry, also in responding to the challenges posed in recent months by the US government on the economy and support for domestic production, which we have already discussed on Greentomeet. We shall see how it goes.
