Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
Name of main contact person:
BACKGROUND
High Level Group on Energy Intensive Industries
Renewal of the mandate and membership of the High Level Expert Group on Energy Intensive
Industries (Co2020) 7929 final (18.11.2020)
Article 173 of the Treaty assigned the European Union and the Member States the task of ensuring
that the conditions necessary for the competitiveness of the Union's industry exist.
With a view to listen more closely to citizens and stakeholders, as set out by the Better Regulation
rules , and in accordance with the European Green Deal , the new industrial strategy for Europe and
the new Circular Economy Action Plan , the Commission may need to call upon the expertise of
specialists in an advisory body.
By decision C(2015) 6964 of 26 October 2015, the Commission set up the High Level Group on
Energy Intensive Industries (hereafter “the group”). Article 7 provides for its expiry date on 31
December 2019. On 13 November 2019, the group’s mandate was extended by one year by
amendment C(2019) 8041, in order to finalise and deliver ongoing actions. There is still a continuous
need for an expert group focusing on matters of relevance to the energy-intensive industries, in
particular to deliver industrial policy with an ecosystem approach that supports the green and digital
transformation.
It is therefore necessary to continue the work of the group of experts in the field of energy-intensive
industries and to define its tasks and its structure, in compliance with Commission Decision C(2016)
3301 establishing horizontal rules on the creation and operation of Commission expert groups
(hereafter “the horizontal rules”).
The group should be composed of organisations representing energy intensive industries and other
related industries like energy and digital providers and waste management, of organisations from
the civil society, of Member States, and of other relevant public entities.
The group’s tasks shall be: (1) to advise and assist the Commission in the preparation of policy
initiatives relating to or affecting energy-intensive industries by identifying challenges and strategic
priorities of these industries, in particular the twin green and digital transitions and the need for
greater resilience; (2) to provide input to the Industrial Forum9 on matters of relevance to the
energy intensive industries; (3) to support the development and operation of industrial al iances of
relevance to the energy-intensive industries.
The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to energy-intensive industries.
The group shal be composed of up to 60 members. Members shall be : (a) organisations
representing energy-intensive industries and other related industries, organisations of the civil
society relevant to the activities of energy intensive industries, including trade unions and
organisations in the field of research and innovation, climate and environment - these organisations
have to be established in one of the Member States of the European Union, or in one of the
acceding countries, or in one of the countries forming the European Economic Area; (b) Member
States' authorities; (c) other public entities. Organisations, Member States' authorities and other
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Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
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public entities shall nominate their representatives and shall be responsible for ensuring that their
representatives provide a high level of expertise.
Cefic is one of the 11 Energy Intensive Industries represented in the High Level Group
In February 2019, at its 4th meeting, the High Level Group on Energy Intensive Industries decided to
produce an Industrial Transformation Master Plan to deepen analytical base and operationalise
possible pathways for the transition of these industries towards climate-neutral and circular
economy. The Masterplan was published on 28 November 2019.
The Masterplan presents an integrated policy framework with recommendations to ensure that
these industries can contribute to Europe’s 2050 climate-neutrality ambitions. It outlines actions
that could provide the right market signals to attract new investments in Europe, help companies
implement cost-effective pathways towards climate-neutrality and seize new business opportunities
in Europe and abroad. The Masterplan also focuses on the need to ensure a just transition and
considers the need to equip workers with new skil s and help communities dependent on these
industries to manage the transition.
The Master Plan offers actions with three dimensions that were covered by 3 sub-groups. In each
group the EI s, Member States, NGOs, academia and relevant Commission services were
represented.
1.
Creation of markets for climate-neutral, circular economy products;
2.
Developing climate-neutral solutions and financing their uptake;
3.
Access to resources and deployment.
Low-carbon Industries Alliance
Contact:
Objective: to bring together players in the energy-intensive industries’ ecosystem, committed to
working towards climate-neutrality and circularity by 2050, in order to facilitate large projects to
deploy breakthrough technologies in the EU, help remove barriers to innovation and improve policy
coherence.
i)
Stocktaking
The new industrial strategy announced a future industrial alliance on low-carbon industries. Low-
carbon industries are resource- and energy-intensive. The Commission chairs a High-Level Expert
Group (HLG) on Energy Intensive Industries where issues relevant to these 11 sectors
1 are discussed
with Member States, financial institutions and civil society. The Commission has renewed the
mandate of the HLG to support the low-carbon al iance and provide input to the new Industrial
Forum from this ecosystem. The alliance would facilitate large projects to deploy breakthrough
technologies in the EU, help remove barriers to innovation and improve policy coherence. The
1 Cement; ceramics and refractories; chemicals; ferro-al oys and silicon; fertilisers; glass; lime; non-ferrous
metals; pulp and paper; refining and steel.
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
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European industry associations have prepared a scoping paper and are reaching out to company
CEOs.
ii)
Actors
The alliance would bring together energy-intensive industries committed to working towards
climate-neutrality and circularity by 2050. Planning of this alliance has started with steel, chemicals
and cement, as already identified in the work of the Strategic Forum on low-CO2 industries’ strategic
value chain. These sectors already have sectoral roadmaps, potential breakthrough technologies,
close sectoral integration, a relatively small number of production sites (<30 for steel, around 40
crackers for chemicals and just over 200 for cement), and their products play a role in most industrial
ecosystems. The alliance would be open for other players in the ecosystem to join (including civil
society, trade unions, regions), based on their expression of interest to foster the alliance’s
objectives. The steel, chemicals and cement sectors see a need for IPCEIs and will involve Member
States closely. AT has shown interest to promote an IPCEI on low-carbon industries, the discussions
are still preliminary.
iii)
Governance
The industry is suggesting that working level arrangements for the Alliance would be managed by
them and the Commission would involve other stakeholders through the High Level Group on Energy
Intensive Industries. The lead industries would create or nominate a legal entity and hire a manager
to lead the work. Political leadership from the Commissioner will be essential, possibly through
regular steering board meetings with a core group of CEOs. We understand that Commissioner
Gabriel is interested in being involved in this alliance, given the close link to the Horizon Europe
partnerships on clean steel and on climate-neutral and circular industry.
iv)
Timing
The industry associations presented their ideas on the Alliance at the HLG Sherpas’ meeting on 3 July
to Member States and other stakeholders. The aim has been to finalise the development work by
the end of 2020. However, GROW has signal ed to the three industrial associations leading the
development work, that the process is lacking inclusion of other stakeholders, is too much focused
on IPCEI and further clarity is needed to the governance of the alliance. On 19.11.2020, the three
industry associations presented an updated plan, but the issues with inclusiveness remain. In
practice, resetting the development work is necessary.
Chemical recycling – plastic recycling
Contact:
A) Work programme and deliverables of the CPA
2-minute summary at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b98OKwmsjg
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
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•
Design for recycling: work plan adopted
o
19 priority product categories that the CPA commits to make recyclable. A few
more will be added in early 2021.
o Product teams (operational, industry experts) for each priority product. 8
product teams in the packaging sector.
•
Standardisation request
o DG GROW plans a standardisation request on
“recycled plastics and plastics
recycling”. Active support by CEN-CENELEC and the CPA. Wil cover design-for-
recycling but also other aspects of circularity (e.g. quality of sorted plastic waste,
quality of recycled plastics, integration of recycled content).
•
Monitoring system and model ing of the plastics materials flows in Europe
o The CPA is about to establish a reliable
monitoring system to track plastic
materials flows in Europe, in line with the requirements in its declaration (audit,
transparency, reliability).
o Data from the monitoring system will feed into the “
Mass Flow Model”
developed by the JRC to model the flows of recycled plastics in Europe. The JRC
will further develop the model, notably to capture national markets.
o The ultimate objective is to use the CPA data as a reliable and recognised source
for the plastics value chains and the public authorities across Europe (EU27+UK).
• While the achievement of the 10 million tonnes target can only be “proven” in 2025,
there are
essential milestones towards the 10 mil ion tonnes in 2021
o 1)
The quantification of the untapped potential in recycling, collection & sorting
of plastic waste (report to publish in early 2021): this is the CPA “roadmap
towards the 10 mil ion tonnes”
o 2)
The mapping of the investment needs, also due in early 2021
o 3)
The update of the pledges / voluntary commitments to use more recycled
plastics – DG GROW intends to assess the progress made in spring 2021
• A
competition compliance programme has been established so that the CPA is in ful
compliance with EU and national rules on competition (approved by DG COMP).
•
R&D agenda
o This agenda describes the R&D priority needs for circular plastics.
o The concrete follow-up needs to be clarified (e.g. common R&D projects?)
B) Chemical recycling in the context of the CPA
• The consensus in the Circular Plastics Alliance is that
chemical recycling complements
mechanical recycling (e.g. focus on waste that is not suitable for mechanical recycling).
• CEFIC leads this part of the work of the CPA.
• Chemical recycling includes many technologies (70+ different technologies), with 3 main
categories:
o
Dissolution (back to the original polymer)
o
Depolymerisation (back to the original monomer)
o
Pyrolysis and gasification (back to a feedstock for the chemicals plant, also called
“feedstock recycling”)
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
Name of main contact person:
•
Not al technologies wil work for al polymers or packaging product. Each polymer wil
have its own circular economy model, with a different mix of mechanical/ chemical
recycling
.
•
Chemical recycling wil require efforts by the value chains as much as mechanical
recycling. This is about re-designing the value chains, from product design to col ection and
sorting of waste, to integration of the secondary raw materials back into new products (and
finding customers). This is where the Circular Plastics Alliance plays a strategic role.
•
Our objective is to provide a clear framework to allow a business case
•
The position of DG GROW on chemical recycling is not established, but a few views could
be:
There is no intention, to our knowledge, to modify the current definitions in
EU regulation of “recycling”. To be recognised as recycling, chemical recycling
needs to demonstrate that it is “true” recycling (and not energy recovery).
This means that the input shal be plastic waste and the output shal be a
plastic product (and not a fuel). The “mass balance” calculation on this has
triggered some controversy.
We are favourable to chemical recycling e.g. to allow recycle contaminated,
mixed waste and/or to al ow recycled content in food contact applications.
One open question is around environmental impacts and in particular energy
consumption of chemical recycling. DG GROW D.2 is running a study
with
the JRC to investigate the environmental benefits of chemical recycling in
comparison with mechanical recycling, incineration and landfilling (and
establish a clear methodological framework for such comparisons).
Recovery plans
Contact person:
• Given the enabling role of chemicals, the importance of the industry as well as its
chal enges, companies and national associations should reach out to public authorities.
• Drafting national recovery plans is in the hands of Member States.
• The Commission wil assess these plans to ensure that while addressing country specific
chal enges identified in the context of the European Semester, they contribute to the six
pillars of the RFF, the digital and green transition, growth, jobs, and economic, social and
institutional resilience of the Member State.
• While Member States will need to implement their plans by August 2026, the reforms
and supported investments are expected to have a lasting impact. When reaching out to
public authorities, companies and associations could also stress the transformative
nature of the planned investments.
On 17 December, the European Parliament and the Council reached a political agreement
on the Regulation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The text was submitted to
the ECOFIN on 21 December ahead of the December European Council. The jointly-agreed
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
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text confirms the sum of EUR 672.5 bil ion in loans and grants for the Facility to support
reforms and investments undertaken by Member States. The new text of the Regulation wil
now have to be finalised at technical level. The European Parliament and the Council must
then formal y approve the text so that the Regulation can enter into force as soon as
possible. Once the Regulation is in force, Member States wil be able to submit their
recovery and resilience plans, setting out a coherent package of reforms and investment
projects.
RRF has six pillars, namely:
(1)
green transition;
(2)
digital transformation;
(3)
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, including economic cohesion, jobs,
productivity, competitiveness, research, development and innovation, and a
wel -functioning single market with strong small and medium enterprises
(SMEs);
(4)
social and territorial cohesion;
(5)
health, and economic, social and institutional resilience, including with a view of
increasing crisis reaction capacity and crisis preparedness;
(6)
and policies for the next generation, children and youth, including education
and skills.
Member States should officially submit national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) as a
rule by 30 April 2021.
The European Semester is confirmed as the framework to identify national reform priorities
and monitor their implementation and to carry out the monitoring or progress in the NRRPs.
These wil have to be consistent with the relevant country-specific chal enges identified in
the context of the European Semester.
The Commission will assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of NRRPs
considering, among other factors, whether they:
• contribute appropriately to al six pil ars covered by the scope of the Regulation;
• contribute to effectively address all or a significant subset of challenges identified in
the relevant country-specific recommendation (CSRs);
• contribute to strengthen the growth potential, job creation and economic, social
and institutional resilience of the Member State;
• ensure that no measures make any significant harm to the environmental objectives
in the sense on the “Taxonomy regulation”;
• contribute to the climate and digital transition (plans should include a minimum of
37% of expenditure on investments and reforms to support climate objectives and a
minimum of 20% for the digital transition);
• ensure effective monitoring and implementation of the recovery and resilience plan,
including milestones, targets and an indicative timetable for the implementation of
the reforms and investments to be completed by the end of August 2026 at the
latest.
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
Name of main contact person:
In a letter sent on 6 January 2021 to K. Jorna, Cefic listed a number of obstacles companies
have encountered with regards to the possibility of using recovery funding. These can be
summarised as follows: 1) timelines do not match investments cycles and are not aligned
between different funding instruments; 2) MS plans and industry’s projects do not match,
also because the scope of the funding instruments is too narrow. For the purpose of this
meeting, Cefic wishes to share the feedback it received from its members and ask for
further advice.
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
Name of main contact person:
CVs of Cefic participants
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing: C. Pettinelli
BASIS request ID: 7831
Participants:
Name of main contact person: