President Ursula von der Leyen has been clear: “Europe is not only a continent of industrial innovation, but also a production one.” To which he added that “in the face of the high costs of energy and a fierce world competition often unfair, our industries need urgent help.”
In this context, the president of the Commission presented in Brussels on Wednesday the clean industrial pact (PIL), defined as a bold activity plan in support of the competitiveness and resilience of the European industry, which will accelerate the decarbonization and guarantee the future of the manufacturing industry in Europe.
The high energy prices, the normative load, the transfer of investments to other regions and, even, the slowdown of the demand for clean products, all mentioned by Von der Leyen “are the chains that they continue to stop our companies, that the pact wants to break and clearly demonstrate that Europe has good economic arguments.”
Strengthen the value chain
The pact focuses especially on reinforcing the entire value chain of European industrial production, based on two closely related sectors: industries of large energy consumption and clean technologies. The first, because their high energy costs put them in a situation of needing urgent help to decarbon and electrify. The world competition is also taken into account and complex regulations that include its competitiveness. Clean technologies, because they are fundamental for industrial transformation, competitiveness and future growth.
Circularity is another a central element of the PLI, to take advantage of the limited resources of the Union and, also, to reduce the excessive dependence of suppliers of raw materials in third countries.
Five engines and financing
The pact plans to develop specific frames for sectors such as automotive, steel, metals, chemical and clean technologies.
But, for the PIL to prosper, according to the Commission, it is necessary to act on six basic activity areas, called engines in the document: financing, for which it is expected to mobilize 100,000 million euros; Reduction of energy costs to deject the invoices of industries, companies and homes; Stimulus for the demand for clean products, with the introduction of sustainability and manufacturing criteria in Europe in public procurement in strategic sectors, as well as the creation of a voluntary carbon intensity label in industrial products, such as steel and cement. The circularity, already mentioned, is strategic because raw materials are essential for European industry and to reduce exposure to unreliable suppliers: joint purchases and maximum reuse to achieve that 24% of matters enter the circular economy in 2030.
Next to what, the EU considers the one with whom. Hence two objectives: ally with reliable partners and establish new trade agreements and have qualified labor. For this, a union of competencies will be created, which invests in workers, creates quality jobs promotes decent social conditions and helps workers affect your transitions.
Very summary, these are the great lines of the pact, in whose presentation there has also been talk of simplification of bureaucratic measures, harmonization of carbon measurement methodologies, more efficient regulatory framework, etc.
Concepts that the commission ensures are compatible with European climatic and decarbonization objectives at 2050, although environmental sectors have shown distrust and fear that environmental safeguards relax. For their part, analysts and industrial sectors consider that the PIL responds to the most short -term challenges and challenges. For Spain, specifically, it looks very positive since the country has renewable resources, industrial base and territory.