By Arnold Puech d'Alissac, EESC Employers Group

A few weeks after the presentation of the legislative proposals for the "Fit for 55" package – the set of measures linked to the Recovery Fund through which the European Commission proposes meeting the target of reducing CO₂ emissions by 55% by 2030 – European employers, who are currently analysing the measures announced, fully support the direction taken but nevertheless wonder about many practical points.

European industry is already at the forefront of investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, in hydrogen and in CO₂ capture and storage. For this reason, it is essential to avoid an ideological approach at all costs. Such an approach has frequently been taken in a bipartisan manner with regard to climate and energy issues linked to the Green Deal, and risks irreversibly damaging entire production sectors, posing great risks to employment and society, and potentially undermining economic recovery.

In particular, it should be noted that, according to some estimates, the 55% target could involve investments of more than EUR 3.5 trillion by 2030, while the available public resources are under EUR 1 trillion, or less than a third of the amount needed.

It is important to understand that European industry, with its technological innovation in products and production processes, is the solution and not the obstacle to achieving the decarbonisation objectives. There is not enough funds for the green transformation of the industrial sector in national reform programmes.

As such, it is vital to take action by setting out a harmonised and flexible regulatory framework to achieve a truly integrated energy market, by ensuring a level playing field vis-à-vis countries that do not share the Commission's climate goals, in particular for emission-intensive sectors, and by implementing investment and innovation policies to make European industrial ecosystems more resilient and technologically dynamic.

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