In a resolution adopted on February 1st – in response to the Commission’s “Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age” – MEPs call on the Commission to work on plans to redeploy, relocate and re-shore industries in Europe. They stress the importance of enhancing the EU’s manufacturing strength in strategic technologies like solar and wind energy, heat pumps, and batteries.
They demand the scaling-up, and improved commercialisation of, strategic technologies to bridge the gap between innovation and market deployment. Fast and predictable permitting procedures to set up new projects to deploy renewable energy sources as quickly as possible are also needed, according to MEPs.
The overall objective of EU policy must be to secure European leadership in clean energy technologies and improving Europe’s existing industrial base while assisting in its transformation to produce high quality jobs and economic growth to reach the goals of the Green Deal. To achieve this, MEPs say, the EU must take measures to accelerate production capacities for affordable, secure and clean energy intended for use by industry and to increase energy savings and energy efficiency measures.
MEPs also highlight the importance of secure access to critical raw materials to achieve the EU’s ecological and digital transformations. Strategic European projects need faster and more transparent permitting, according to MEPs.
