Clean technologies are projected to continue expanding in turnover, investments and jobs. Thanks to ambitious climate targets, the EU is a global leader in high-value inventions and was an early mover in developing a cleantech production base. However, it has lost technological leadership in several sectors and its manufacturing base is eroding.
The well-functioning Single Market is a main asset of the EU. It is clearly the quality of the overall legislative framework that matters for businesses when making investment decisions, being a key competitiveness factor.
The European Green Deal set the path for a critical transition related to climate and circularity. The current transformation change concerns all sectors of economy, mainly transport, energy, industry and agriculture. It is critical to ensure a synergetic approach between the goals of the Green Deal and other important EU goals, such as innovation, competitiveness and access to critical raw materials. A better understanding of how the different EU adopted legislative acts interact with each other is needed. Moreover, the Green Deal legislation should also reflect the current economic and political situation in which we are living.
The own initiative opinion aims at identifying acts and particular measures stemming from the Green Deal that need a recalibration in order to avoid any contradictions, damage to the environment, consumer health and EU competitiveness.
Increasing tensions between geopolitical blocs, supply chain problems and the need to respond to the challenges of climate change, rising resource consumption and social imbalances are now key areas of activity in European industrial policy.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Industrial Policy as an instrument to reduce dependencies and boost an EU market for green products in the resource and energy-intensive industries (REEIs)
The opinion intends to contribute to the design of the EU regulation on critical raw materials and to its follow-up, and could influence the political and economic decisions to be taken at EU level in the new geopolitical context.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: For a resilient, sustainable and responsible European Union supply chain of critical raw materials
The Green Deal Industrial Plan aims to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Green Deal Industrial Plan
The European Commission presented its Critical Raw Materials Act in the beginning of March. The package of legislative and non-legislative measures is aimed at diversifying the supply of the materials needed to achieve the green and digital transition.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Critical Raw Materials Act
Steel is one of Europe's essential strategic sectors and plays a vital role in providing products and services to a wide-range of Europe’s industrial ecosystems.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Sustainable recycling, use of secondary raw materials and Just Transition in the European ferrous and nonferrous metal industry
Semiconductors are at the heart of strong geopolitical interests, giving countries the conditions to be able to act (militarily, economically and industrially) and to foster digital and ecological transitions. They are essential for strategic and industrial autonomy.
The EESC welcomes the European Commission's objective of strengthening the semiconductor ecosystem, significantly increasing resilience and security of supply and reducing external dependencies.
The upcoming French Presidency of the Council of the European Union asked the EESC to prepare an opinion on how the industrial ecosystems identified by the Commission will contribute to the EU's strategic autonomy and the well-being of its citizens.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: How will given industrial ecosystems contribute to the strategic autonomy of the EU and the wellbeing of Europeans?
The European Green Deal announced that to protect Europe’s citizens and ecosystems, the EU needs to move towards a zero pollution ambition, and better prevent and remedy pollution from air, water, soil, and consumer products.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Zero Pollution Action Plan for air, water and soil
In September 2020, the European Commission presented the Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials, which also contains the 2020 List of Critical Raw Materials.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability
Securing sustainable access to raw materials, including metals, industrial minerals and construction raw materials, and particularly Critical Raw Materials (CRM), is of high importance for the EU economy. However, the EU is confronted with a number of technological and environmental challenges along the entire production value chain of primary and secondary raw materials.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Digital Mining in Europe: New solutions for the sustainable production of raw materials (own-initiative opinion)
The European Union and its Member States must stand united to protect their sovereignty. The EESC firmly believes that if Europe is to maintain its leading role in the world, it needs a strong, competitive industrial base. The EESC recognises the crucial importance of shifting to a carbon-neutral economy and of reversing the current curve of biodiversity collapse. Without a green industrial strategy as a cornerstone of the Green Deal, the EU will never succeed in reaching a carbon-neutral economy within one generation. The new industrial strategy must ensure the right balance between supporting European businesses, respecting our 2050 climate neutrality objective and providing consumers with incentives to shift consumption to sustainable goods and services .
The European Commission’s first progress report on the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Batteries shows that a variety of actions have been launched to develop a significant battery industry in the EU. Although it is far too early to draw definitive conclusions, the EESC supports the initiatives that the Commission has taken and has announced it will take to work with Member States and European industry to break Europe's dependence on non-EU – particularly Asian – countries. There is much to be done in the coming years to achieve the necessary level of technological expertise in the EU, to secure the supply of raw materials from third countries and EU sources and to ensure that batteries can be recycled safely and cleanly. Investing in staff is the joint responsibility for the government and the business community.
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Download — Mnenje EESO: Strategic Action Plan on Batteries (report)
The EESC welcomes the Commission document COM(2011) 25 final Tackling the Challenges in Commodity Markets and on Raw Materials and The European raw materials' initiative (RMI) as an important step to tackle this vital issue.
EESC thus urges the EC to monitor the situation in international trade of critical raw materials (as listed in COM(2011) 25 final and with regular updating of this list). In addition, we endorse the need to continue in negotiation at the international level (WTO) to promote free trade also in commodity markets.
The EESC urges a more active foreign policy regarding security of raw materials for EU industry.
Mr. Paul Anciaux, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission
