CEO Alliance members have today endorsed the policy paper ‘A Green Industrial Policy for Europe’ at a meeting in Södertälje, Sweden, which puts forward five key recommendations for a European Green Industrial Policy.
The Alliance welcomes the proposal for a Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), and commends the European Commission for its efforts to create competitive and resilient European markets for several technologies needed for the net-zero transition. However, the NZIA is not a panacea to all the challenges faced by European industry for the transition to a net-zero future.
With this paper, the CEO Alliance would like to offer our input to key items that need to be addressed to achieve a truly green and modern industrial policy for the EU.
The policy paper puts forward five key recommendations for a European Green Industrial Policy:
- Continue building on the momentum for decarbonisation, and improve Europe’s resilience and competitiveness – It is crucial that EU policymakers keep making green targets a priority as we enter a new legislative term. Further policy support is needed to ensure that Green Deal legislation works as intended, not only to accelerate decarbonization, but to ensure that Europe maximizes the use of its domestic renewable energy resources.
- Fully mobilise the potential of digitalisation for greening the European economy – Digitalisation presents untapped potential for efficiency and decarbonisation. Further support for digitalisation is needed, e.g. in the Net Zero Industry Act and the Taxonomy.
- Accelerate and simplify permitting procedures for a broader range of green technologies and their enablers – Concrete measures to reduce the administrative complexities of permitting procedures across the Union are needed to realise the green transition. The EU and Member States must strive towards a truly harmonised and simplified system for permitting procedures.
- Bridge the investment gap for transforming the European economy – A combination of public procurement measures and funding in the form of direct grants, tax credits, loans and financial guarantees are needed to bridge the investment gap for the green transition, at EU, national and local levels.
- Support SMEs to achieve value chain emission reduction – High up-front costs of decarbonisation can be difficult to overcome for many SMEs. The Commission and Member States must explore how SMEs can be further supported through the transition.
Download the paper below to read all the details of the policy paper.
