Ref. Ares(2020)4390554 - 24/08/2020
Commissioner Sinkevicius meeting with ENGIE (Claire Waysand and Guil aume Gil et)
03-06-2020, videoconference
Meeting report
The meeting took place at the initiative of ENGIE
ENGIE expressed full support to the European Green Deal (EGD) and green recovery policies of the
Commission, as climate change is the next crisis, thus recovery must promote a greener Europe.
ENGIE also underlined that the public investments is only part of the solution for green transition, a
right and supportive framework is needed to attract private investments. Offshore wind was
particularly mentioned. Concrete measures to develop offshore wind are welcome, while it is
important to reconcile interests of various stakeholders, ex. fishers and energy producers, as well as
biodiversity. In this context, permitting is often too slow so instal ed technologies could be outdated.
ENGIE welcomed taxonomy and underlined importance of transition technologies, like natural gas –
needed in some countries to phase out coal. Circular economy solutions play an important role, like
biomethane production from waste, use of waste energy in district heating or reuse and recycling of
wind blades. Life cycle should guide all action.
The Commissioner underlined that the support from stakeholders to EGD policies was very
important. Europe must learn lessons from Covid crisis: resilience, sustainability and fair recovery
remain key, especially regarding public investments. Strategic autonomy is also key, such as more
local food systems or circular economy as well as digital transition. The Commissioner underlined
importance of sustainable finance and taxation.
Taxonomy regulation and delegated act will define
green investments. This includes the principle of no significant harm, as in the EGD. The political
agreement recognizes different types of activities, including transition activities. The Commissioner
stressed that offshore wind was a key for decarbonisation, jobs and growth. Expansion of renewable
energy is the only sustainable solution for Europe. However, we need to take into account
environmental impacts and avoid mistakes made on land. Oceans are also growing source of food
and materials: we need to avoid over-exploitation, integrating knowledge of marine ecosystems.
Maritime Spatial Planning very important, as well as cross-border cooperation. Look for win-win
situations and for innovations ex like floating offshore.
Demand of raw materials (also for wind and
solar) brings new chal enges, environmental and economic (dependency) as we have seen during the
crisis. For example, recycling of decommissioned or batteries show the importance of integration of
the circular economy concepts also in renewable energy.
