Green Deal Industrial Plan

Background

This EESC opinion covers both the Green Deal Industrial Plan (GDIP) and the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA).

The GDIP was presented by the Commission on 1 February 2023 under the European Green Deal, which sets the goal of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. It is intended to make Europe's net-zero industry more competitive and to support a fast transition to climate neutrality. It is also a response to the USA's Inflation Reduction Act. It is based on four pillars:

• a predictable and simplified regulatory environment;
• speeding up access to finance;
• enhancing skills; and
• open trade for resilient supply chains.

The NZIA is part of the first pillar of measures. It is meant to provide a regulatory framework suited for the quick deployment of net-zero industry, ensuring simplified and fast-track permitting, promoting European strategic projects and developing standards to support the scale-up of technologies across the single market.

Key points

Overall, the EESC backs the Commission's proposals to relaunch the competitiveness of European industry and attract investment to finance its green transition. The Committee stresses the need for a strong political commitment for an industrial base in Europe, and advises the following.

• The Commission should carry out an audit to identify how the EU can control and improve its value chains and avoid excessive dependencies.
• It should also work a competitiveness check into EU decision-making. This would help make EU businesses more competitive, ensuring a balance between the economic, social and environmental dimensions when making legislative proposals.
• The GDIP and the NZIA should not focus narrowly on promoting green technologies and picking "winners", but rather encourage the development of a diverse industrial sector as the basis for Europe's industrial policy.
• They should also include measures to ensure that Member States' public funding for projects, including State aid and subsidies, do not distort the single market or threaten economic convergence and social cohesion across the EU.
• Fast-track permitting should not be limited to net-zero technology as envisaged in the proposals, but should be made the standard procedure for all economic sectors.

Link to the full opinion

Additional information

EESC section responsible: Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT)

Opinion type: mandatory Commission referral

Rapporteur: Sandra Parthie (DE-Gr. I)

Reference: COM(2023) 161 final 2023/0081 COD COM(2023) 62 final

Date of adoption by section: 29/6/2023

Result of the vote: 69 votes in favour and none against, with no abstentions

Date of adoption by plenary: 13/7/2023

Result of the vote: 193 votes in favour and 3 against, with 3 abstentions

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