Meeting with
ArcelorMittal
Ares(2020)3900681 - 24/07/2020
Ref. Ares(2020)5071176 - 28/09/2020
14 July 2020, 17h30-18h00
Industrial strategy initiatives for energy-intensive industries
Main messages
With the new
Industrial Strategy for Europe, which we published in March, just
before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe, we set Europe’s industry on course to face
the twin transitions of climate neutrality and digitalisation. In addressing the key
challenges of today and tomorrow, the strategy aims at maintaining Europe’s
global
competitiveness and at a strengthening our industrial and
strategic autonomy.
I understand the gravity of the situation your industry faces. A number of ecosystems
that drive demand for your products are already affected severely, including the
automotive and construction ecosystems.
However, the crisis will not make us change this approach. Rather, we want to use it to
accelerate our joint efforts to reach the aims that the new Industrial Strategy wants to
address.
That is why our Recovery Plan builds on the priorities of the Industrial Strategy. The
aim is to help repair the economic and social damage brought by the coronavirus
pandemic, to kick-start the European recovery, accelerate the green and digital
transition of our industrial ecosystems, make them more resilient, to protect and create
jobs. That is what we mean by sustainable recovery.
Industry must be at the core of the transition towards a circular and climate-neutral
economy, if we want to succeed.
The transition needs to serve all – it needs to support both green technologies and the
transformation of existing industries. That is why our focus in the energy-intensive
industries is on breakthrough technologies, creation of lead markets and avoiding
carbon leakage e.g. through the use of a carbon border adjustment mechanism. We
also need to ensure access to affordable clean energy for the transition to a low-carbon
industry and the appropriate infrastructure for clean energy.
The Industrial Strategy presents a comprehensive toolbox, including new industrial
alliances.
The newly launched Clean Hydrogen Alliance will bring relevant stakeholders together
to identify technology needs, investment opportunities and regulatory barriers and
enablers to build a clean hydrogen ecosystem in the EU. Hydrogen is one of the key
technologies to move from fossil fuels to greener energy sources, in particular in the
field of mobility and in energy-intensive industries such as steel.
To make hydrogen an affordable energy source, political leadership and stakeholder
engagement are required to spur needed investments in innovation, infrastructure and
scale-up.
Similarly, the low-carbon industry alliance would deliver large projects to deploy
breakthrough technologies in the EU, help remove barriers to innovation and improve
policy coherence.
On the global scale, we will always be committed to open and fair trade but must be
aware of the need to reduce dependencies and strengthen security of supply. With this
in mind, we will pursue a model of strategic autonomy.
The implementation of the Industrial Strategy and the transformation of our industries,
including energy-intensive ones, requires an approach based on partnerships. More
than ever, we need joint commitment and cooperation between industry, EU Institutions
and Member States.
Topics for discussion
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Meeting with
ArcelorMittal
14 July 2020, 17h30-18h00
In this vein, we commend ArcelorMittal’s ambition, expressed in the recent Climate
Action Plan, of making its operations climate-neutral by 2050.
Defensives
What will be the role of industry in the new Industrial Forum? What is the timeline
for its setup?
The governance structure of the Industrial Forum will be decided in the coming months.
Our aim will be to create an open and inclusive forum representing the diversity of
stakeholders.
We are now working internally on its setup.
Is the Green Deal harming the competitiveness of EU industry?
The Recovery plan adopted on 27 May confirms the
European Green Deal as the
EU’s recovery strategy.
The Green Deal, together with new Industrial Strategy, sets European industry on the
right track to face the
twin challenge of sustainability and digitalisation. Acting now
gives us the first-mover advantage.
Industry must be at the core of the transition towards a circular and climate-neutral
economy, if we want to succeed. To do so, we need to spell out more clearly the
challenges, but also the opportunities:
global leadership on low-emission
technologies, products and services, increased innovation,
reinforced security of
supply and technological independence.
If we overcome the challenges ahead and take advantage of the linked opportunities,
the Green Deal will strengthen our competitiveness.
How does the industrial ecosystem approach relate to the strategic value chain
approach? What are the differences?
The industrial ecosystems concept is
wider than strategic value chains, which focus
mostly on areas of strategic importance, industrial competitiveness and technological
sovereignty. Industrial ecosystems include both those ecosystems that were hardest-hit
by COVID-19 (such as tourism, local businesses, distribution and heavy industry) and
those that are crucial for strategic autonomy (e.g. defence and space) or key for
addressing the twin green and digital transformation (such as the digital ecosystems or
the low-carbon energy-intensive industries).
The
analysis of the needs of the industrial ecosystems in terms of financing but
also other aspects such as regulatory measures, necessary for their recovery but also
for their digital and green transformation,
will allow for a targeted response. The
partnership with industry, including through alliances like for batteries or hydrogen, will
remain important in delivering on solutions for the recovery and transformation.
Why did the Commission not accept some critical requests by the industry on
safeguard measures: stop carry-over of unused tariff rate quotas, reduction of tariff
rate quotas levels and reduction of liberalisation pace?
We have looked into each of these proposals with great care. However,
in adjusting
the safeguard measures we are bound to respect World Trade Organization
rules. We cannot cross this red line, and we would have crossed it if we had accepted
some of the proposals. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that the combination of all the
adjustments proposed constitute an effective response to the needs of the Union
industry in these difficult times.
Topics for discussion
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Meeting with
ArcelorMittal
14 July 2020, 17h30-18h00
Don’t you think that free allocation of allowances should be maintained as a
complement to border measures to avoid all forms of carbon leakages?
The text of the Green Deal is clear in that respect, asking us to develop a mechanism
“
alternative to the measures that address the risk of carbon leakage in the EU’s
Emissions Trading System”. In the context of the Impact Assessment, we will assess
various options. It is, of course, in our interest to identify a system that will support our
industries without penalising those who have already been investing to develop cleaner
and better-performing production processes and products.
Contacts – briefing coordination:
Electronically signed on 28/09/2020 13:43 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
Topics for discussion
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