Ref. Ares(2022)166052 - 11/01/2022
DG GROW
Meeting between Commissioner Breton and European Round Table for industry (ERT) members
25.10.21, 16:00-17:00
Update on the ERT flagship paper on the Single Market
BRIEFING NOTE (Commission Internal)
Scene setter/Context of the meeting:
Commissioner Breton wil take part in a discussion with ERT
members ahead of the publication of the Single Market report.
The Commissioner is foreseen to intervene four times along the
following
choreography of the event:
Welcome
• Opening by
ERT
Competitiveness & Innovation Committee,
BASF
, and
,
ERT and
•
Response/Opening intervention by Commissioner Breton
Presentation of the ERT flagship paper on the Single Market
• Overview by
of the key messages of the
ERT flagship paper
•
Initial response by Commissioner Thierry Breton: insights into
EU priorities & actions on Single Market
• Personal Corporate Stories by several ERT Members
•
Reaction by Commissioner Breton
European Chips Act
•
Introduction by Commissioner Breton
• Q&A with ERT members
AOB
•
– Implementation of the EU industry
strategy & improving European Competitiveness: tracking
progress through KPIs
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Objective of the meeting
Participate in a discussion with ERT members, give insights into EU
priorities and actions on the Single Market, and provide reaction to
the overview presentation of ERT’s draft report on single market.
KEY messages
• Thank ERT for its continuous and decisive involvement in shaping
a competitive, sustainable and resilient European industry;
• Underline that the Single Market is the ultimate engine for
Europe’s long-term recovery and that the Commission and the
Member States must together ensure its functioning and
resilience;
• The current crisis and geopolitical context impose upon Europe to
carry out a bold and assertive industrial policy to cater for its own
needs and ensure its autonomy, in particular in the technologies
of the future.
2
Speaking Points
I. Opening comment (1-2’)
• Dear
,
• Dear Members of the ERT,
• I would like to thank you for your invitation to talk about
the Single Market, the European Chips Act and more
generally about our industrial competitiveness and
resilience in these very volatile times.
• We are indeed experiencing a rather long continuum of
crises: the pandemic, obviously; the chip crunch,
affecting many sectors of our industry, and the current
energy crisis that is disrupting our efforts to step into
the green and digital transition.
• Of course, this should not deter us from harnessing our
ambitions and fulfil ing our objectives.
• With the European Green Deal, with the Fit for 55
package and with the Industrial Strategy, the
Commission is providing a direction, a regulatory
framework and the policy tools to help Europe recover
and ensure its long-term resilience.
• In order to bear fruit, this endeavour must be col ective.
We need the industry, with al its diversity, expertise,
capacity and innovativeness, to show the way.
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• As far as I am concerned, I know the Commission can
count on the ERT to contribute to fulfil ing Europe’s
transition goals.
• I am aware that you are very much involved in the
Industrial Forum and I know that your work wil be
decisive in shaping the transition pathways that are in
the making.
• With this, I would like to thank you once again and I look
forward to our discussion.
***
4
II. Presentation of the ERT flagship paper on the Single
Market
A. Opening remarks on EU priorities and actions for the
Single Market (5’)
• I would like to commend ERT for this report. I think it
wil provide a defining contribution to our col ective
endeavour in making the Single Market more resilient.
• The four building blocks of your analysis – digital,
environment, energy and finance – make a relevant
mapping of all the challenges that Europe wil have to
take up.
• Since the outbreak of the pandemic, I have been
repeating, relentlessly, that the Single Market was the
ultimate engine of our long-term recovery.
• These times of hardship have made us realise, like never
before, how much European economy needs a ful y
functioning Single Market.
• We were all appalled and taken off-guard by the sudden
border controls, the closures, the export restrictions, the
disruptions in production, transport and people's
mobility.
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• Not only did these ad hoc restrictions undermined our
efforts to fight the pandemic. They also jeopardised our
cardinal freedoms that the Single Market is supposed to
safeguard.
• This goes to show that we, col ectively, both at
European and at national level, were not ready and
equipped to handle such a violent and sudden crisis.
• This is why the Commission is working on a proposal for
a Single Market Emergency Instrument. We should
present it early 2022.
• Strengthening the resilience of the Single Market is one
the three main priorities of our industrial strategy for
Europe, presented earlier in May, alongside the need to
address our strategic dependencies and accelerate our
twin transition.
• And we must understand that all these priorities are
interdependent. The Single Market and industrial policy
are two sides of the same coin, and if we want to deliver
on our green and digital ambitions, we must tackle our
dependencies more assertively.
• And I believe, over the past year, that we have come a
long way, col ectively.
6
• Look at what we have achieved regarding vaccine
production: in record time, we managed to turn our
scientific excel ence into industrial leadership, to secure
our supply chains.
• We must build on this success and be confident that
Europe can lay the ground for its strategic autonomy,
and consequently, for a more resilient Single Market and
a successful twin transition.
• We have already made progress on capacity building in
several key areas, in particular by setting up industrial
al iances – batteries, hydrogen, raw materials, plastics.
• As you may know, we recently launched two new
alliances, on semiconductors and industrial data and
edge computing. I am confident that it wil give us
momentum in the global tech race that is going to shape
our future.
• In the meantime, we must continue to ensure that the
Single Market is functioning wel .
• Along with the updated Industrial Strategy, we
published the first Annual Single Market Report. It
analyses the progress made in addressing Single Market
barriers and reports on the implementation of the Single
Market Enforcement Action Plan.
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• As rightly underlined in your paper, the Commission is
wel aware that businesses continue to face too many
barriers to cross-border trade and investment, especially
in services.
• The Commission wil also explore a legislative proposal
to facilitate cross-border trade in services for key
business services supported by harmonised standards. I
know this is also an important element for ETR.
• I share your view that the Commission and Member
States should cooperate even more. It is vital that we
assess and anticipate the impact on the Single Market of
any planned national measure.
• Hence the importance of the Single Market Enforcement
Task Force, which was set up to discuss transparently
about how to remove barriers to the Single Market.
• Hence also the importance of reinforcing together our
preventive approach, in particular through the better
implementation of the notification procedures.
• Both the Single Market Transparency Directive and the
Services Directive lay out notification obligations, which
have proven to be crucial.
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• The Commission wil continue to ensure Member States’
compliance with their existing obligations. We wil also
strengthen market surveil ance of products and
continue to mobilise investments to support SMEs.
• In this endeavour, the Single Market Programme,
adopted before the summer, wil be key. It pools crucial
activities financed under several previous programmes.
It provides a more coherent and agile framework that
wil help our Single Market reach its ful potential, in the
interest of businesses and consumers.
• Thank you for your attention, I am now looking forward
to hearing your views.
***
9
B. Reaction to the interventions / LTTs
• I want to thank wholeheartedly
,
and
for sharing
their corporate stories. They represent an insightful and
concrete testimony to what Europe’s industry has been
going through for nearly two years and to the industrial
reality of our Single Market.
Digital and technology
5G
• The European vision of 5G/6G is that it does not merely
represent an increase in speed and capacity. It is also
designed to provide mission-critical services for vertical
sectors (e.g. mobility, energy and health sectors).
• Our immediate priority is now large-scale deployment of
5G, combined with edge computing and distributed AI,
as it is a main driver for digital innovation and
transformation in virtually all sectors of the economy
and society.
• Investing in more and better connectivity is a main
element of the digital dimension of the recovery plan,
therefore we have set the needle of our Digital Compass
on two main targets for 2030:
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o gigabit connectivity for every office and every
household in Europe,
o and mobile 5G coverage of all populated areas in
the EU, including rural areas where people live.
Broadband
• Under the fast evolving digital and green transformation
process, spectrum availability is essential to achieve
digital decade targets.
• The review of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive,
in light of technological, market and regulatory
developments, aims at enabling quicker and more
efficient rol out of very high capacity networks, notably
5G and fibre, simplifying procedures and harnessing the
potential of private and public assets.
• To maintain Europe’s technological leadership, the
Commission announced an industry-led European
partnership on Smart Networks and Services (SNS)
beyond 5G and towards 6G.
• The SNS partnership should enable European players to
develop the technology capacities for 6G systems as
basis for future digital services towards 2030.
• 6G is intended to have a very strong societal facet
(Green Deal, energy efficiency, technology affordability,
coverage…). It is thus a key enabler of the twin
transition.
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ePrivacy Regulation
• The current ePrivacy Directive, which was adopted in
2002 and revised in 2009, is outdated and not fit for the
chal enges of the next decade.
• The ePrivacy Regulation, stil under trilogue
negotiations, wil provide for future-proof rules adjusted
to developing technology – such as the internet of
things - and ensure the protection of privacy for
individuals and businesses.
• It wil further harmonise the privacy rules in the
European single market and overcome fragmented
implementation of the Directive, thereby creating a level
playing field and reduce compliance cost for businesses.
• It wil also enhance consistency with the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) and strengthen
enforcement powers.
Data processing and Cloud
• In the Industrial Strategy update, the Commission
highlighted its support to the design of an Important
Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on Next
Generation Cloud and Edge.
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• This IPCEI wil be key to meet these chal enges, move
away from our current dependencies in a sustainable
manner by building a competitive and resilient European
industrial supply that wil shape highly innovative,
strategic, sustainable and secure data processing
industrial solutions.
• I welcome the fact that two thirds of the participating
Member States to the potential IPCEI on Next
Generation Cloud and Edge have already dedicated RRF
budget to commit and deliver on the Multi Country
Project on building a Common Data Infrastructure and
its core services. This represents up to EUR 1.7 bil ion
already reserved for this.
• The Commission launched a European Alliance on
Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud in July 2021 to equip the
EU with a resilient cloud and edge supply, and ultimately
gain technological leadership in data processing.
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Environment and consumers
Common European standards for green products and
services
• The Commission is involved in the development of
harmonised standards in general through the adoption of
standardisation requests to European standardisation
organisations and publication of harmonised standards
meeting these requests.
• Standards have the potential to support a wealth of policy
initiatives related to many sectors ranging from climate
mitigation and circular economy, to biodiversity
preservation and a toxic-free environment.
• The upcoming Standardisation strategy (consultation
closed in July/August) wil provide further elements on
future developments of standards for green products and
services amongst others.
Product safety standards
• The new Regulation 2019/1020, applicable from 16 July
2021 on Market Surveil ance is an important step forward
for the enforcement of EU legislation on products.
• It covers essential y al EU legislation with safety,
environmental or other public interest requirements that
affect the design and label ing of non-food products.
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• It ensures better cooperation between authorities across
the EU and provides for concrete measures in cases where
harmonized products are liable to compromise the health
or safety of users.
• The new regulation aims to improve compliance and
strengthen market surveil ance. It modernises market
surveil ance by:
o preventing non-compliances through providing
information to and working with businesses;
o providing more effective enforcement tools to
address online sales;
o improving cooperation, between Member States,
between market surveil ance and customs authorities,
and through an EU product compliance network.
• In addition, the Commission recently (30 June) adopted a
proposal for a new General Product Safety Regulation,
updating the existing General Product Safety Directive.
This wil complement the Market Surveil ance Regulation
by covering non-harmonised products.
Recycling-related symbols and markings
• The Commission is working on assessing the feasibility of
setting harmonised separate col ection rules in the EU that
would facilitate citizen participation in effective waste
sorting as well as further treatment of the waste in line
with waste hierarchy.
15
• As part of this work we wil consider the feasibility of
product label ing containing sorting instructions for
citizens. A legislative proposal covering this aspect is
envisaged in 2023.
• In a parallel work stream, the Commission is reviewing the
Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) which
aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030.
• As part of this work, we are considering harmonised
label ing on the composition of packaging that would
facilitate the reuse and recycling of packaging. A Legislative
proposal covering this aspect is envisaged in 2022.
Uniform biodegradability standard
• As announced in the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP),
the Commission is working on the development of an EU
policy framework for bio-based products (BBP),
biodegradable and compostable plastics (BDCP), as a
fol ow up action to the Plastics Strategy.
• According to the CEAP, the policy framework must address
the sustainability challenges linked to the sourcing,
label ing and use of biobased plastics, and to the use of
biodegradable and compostable plastics.
• The initiative is currently foreseen for Q2 2022. It wil be
developed in close coordination with other initiatives (e.g.
the revision of the PPWD; the Sustainable Product
16
Initiative; the implementation of the Single Use Plastics
Directive (SUPD)).
‘Green’ regulations related to consumer and industrial
products
• The European Green Deal stressed the need for reliable,
comparable and verifiable information in purchasing
decisions and for reducing the risk of greenwashing.
• The Green Claims Initiative is developed in close
coordination with other initiatives, in particular the
revision of EU consumer law to empower consumers for
active participation in the green transition and the
Sustainable Product Initiative.
• The EGD states: “Companies making ‘green claims’ should
substantiate these against a standard methodology to
assess their impact on the environment”.
• The Circular Economy Action Plan specified this action
further by stating that the Commission wil consider the
substantiation of environmental claims using
Environmental Footprint methods.
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ENERGY
Certification process for renewable energy production (RES)
• The revision of the renewable energy directive (REDI ) wil
support and accelerate the uptake of renewables in the
end-use sectors, such as industry, buildings and transport.
• For the end-consumer, it is indeed critical y important to
be informed and to be able to differentiate between
renewable and other forms of energy.
• In respect of renewable electricity, we already have a
system in place of guarantees of origin. We have already
put in place a number of improvements that need to be
implemented by Member States this year.
• Furthermore, we are have published an implementing act
to bring clarity on the certification schemes for biomass-
based fuels.
• Finally, we are proposing to extend our certification
scheme to all renewable fuels, which would indeed allow
al consumers to differentiate between the different fuels
available on the market.
18
FINANCE
Capital Markets Union
• The ERT’s report on the single market puts much emphasis
on financing aspects and on Capital Markets Union.
• The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a key project of the
Commission that also aims at allowing our companies to
diversify their sources of finance.
• As 99% of European companies are SMEs, which employ
around 90 mil ion people in Europe, one of our priorities is
to make it easier for smal businesses to get access to
finance.
• And because the European economy is very much
dependent on bank financing, improving the possibilities
for SMEs to tap also into capital markets is essential and
wil be more and more important in the coming years.
European Single Access Point
• The Commission proposed creation of a European Single
Access Point (ESAP) as it represents a key element for
achieving the CMU.
• It wil be a single access point where financial information
on companies, including SMEs, wil be centralised and
made available to investors.
19
• Companies wil not have to submit brand new data: the
portal wil centralise information that is already legally
available through existing pieces of legislation.
***
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III. Introduction on the European Chips Acts and supply-
chain shortages (5’)
• I would like to thank ERT for putting on today’s agenda the
European Chips Acts, announced by President von der
Leyen in September during her State of the EU address.
• This discussion is timely. As you know, last week, the topic
was debated in Council. Work in Parliament is also gaining
momentum.
• The so-called “chip crunch” is affecting many industries, in
particular the automotive ecosystem: key companies have
warned the shortages wil affect their production until
2023.
• Obviously, the COVID crisis has deepened the
semiconductors supply-chain shortage but it had been
brewing for quite some time. And to tel you the truth, I
started working on this as soon as I was in office.
• The digitalisation of our lives has skyrocketed over the last
years, with pioneering technologies constantly unveiling
uncharted territories: 5G and 6G, edge computing, the
Internet of Things, artificial intel igence, to name but a
few. And what is the stem cel behind all this? Chips, of
course.
• The market wil double by the end of the decade. We must
be ready.
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• We must also be vigilant about the current geopolitical
developments. We know that the heart of the geopolitics
of chips is in Japan and South Korea. We are al aware of
the tensions between the US and China.
• In this context, Europe cannot afford to wait and see. We
must be ambitious, and our amazing achievements
regarding vaccines should give us all the confidence it
takes to bear such ambition.
• Indeed, Europe is resourceful. We have the best research
in the world when it comes to semiconductors. Take IMEC,
LETI or Fraunhofer. Europe has the key to technological
breakthrough, and with the European Chips Act, we wil
further support such excel ence.
• But like we did for vaccines, we must turn this excellence
in industrial leadership, into a manufacturing power. And I
am not only referring to the current 20nm semiconductors.
• It’s true, Europe covers only 10% of production worldwide;
we need to rebalance the current global supply chains by
increasing existing capacities, but we also must be ready
for the next race, the semiconductors below 5nm and even
2nm.
• These wil power our green and digital transition and
ensure our resilience. We are already developing them,
but now we must start investing massively in industrial
deployment.
22
• You know my position: I wil not accept geographical
segmentation. I wil not accept that others decide for
Europe’s future.
• The European Chips Act is a first important step. What we
want is to increase the resilience of our supply chain. This
wil be possible by setting up large manufacturing facilities
and strengthening the ecosystem with strategic
international partners.
• Last Thursday, I talked about this with
during a conference. He rightly said that we
had reached an inflexion point in technological geopolitics
and that Europe and the US together could be on top of it
for the decades to come.
• Europe and US have excel ent opportunities for
cooperation in semiconductors with great mutual benefit,
and this can contribute to reinforcing respective digital
sovereignty.
• But I also told
that in our partnership, we
should ensure a balance of powers and prevent any
disruption, from both side of the Atlantic, along the supply
chain. I’m referring here to the export restrictions decided
by the US earlier this year regarding vaccines.
23
• Beyond the US, we should also further deepen our ties
with the big Asian players I mentioned, Japan and South
Korea. I was there a fortnight ago to prepare the grounds
for further cooperation.
• And because Europe’s Single Market is the biggest
integrated market in the world, we have sufficient
leverage to attract these big players and rebalance the
world map of semiconductors.
• To conclude, the European Chips Act heralds and mirrors
the upcoming battle that we wil have to face not only for
semiconductors, but for all the technologies and the
relevant supply chains that wil shape and define our
future lives.
• Thank you very much.
***
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Defensives / Q&A
SINGLE MARKET & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY UPDATE
What has been achieved since last year’s Industrial Strategy was
published?
• During this year and despite the ongoing crisis, great progress has
been achieved on many fronts, and a great majority of the actions
announced in the strategy have been adopted or kick-started.
• These include important measures, such as – among many others
- the Renovation Wave, the Chemicals strategy for sustainability,
the launch of the Raw materials and the Clean Hydrogen Al iances,
the adoption of Clean Energy and Hydrogen strategies, the Digital
Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Data
Governance Act, the pharmaceuticals strategy or the proposal for
a Regulation on foreign subsidies presented along with the update
of the industrial strategy.
• In July we launched the Al iance for Processors and Semiconductor
technologies and wel as European Al iance for Industrial Data,
Edge and Cloud that wil facilitate capacities building in this area
strategic for green technologies and decarbonisation and
digitalisation of many of our ecosystems;
What is the Single Market Emergency Instrument?
• The Single Market is central to functioning supply chains, for the
free movement of persons and the access to services and goods,
especially in times of difficulties.
• The COVID-19 crisis has shown that some of the current rules and
tools for the Single Market are insufficiently adapted to crises and
emergencies.
• For this reason, as announced by President von der Leyen in early
2021 and as outlined in the Industrial Strategy Update of May
2021, the Commission wil propose a Single Market Emergency
Instrument to ensure greater transparency and coordination,
25
when a critical situation emerges. This will help mitigate the
harmful impacts on the Single Market, safeguard the free
movement of persons, goods and services and maximise the
availability of essential products.
• Reflections on such an emergency instrument are ongoing; the
instrument could include reinforced governance tools, targeted
transparency measures and tailored digital solutions in fields such
as standard setting and sharing, fast-track conformity assessment
and public procurement cooperation.
Which new actions is the Commission proposing to support the twin
transitions?
• In the Industrial Strategy Update, the Commission will among
others:
o Continue co-creating, in partnership with industry, public
authorities, social partners and other stakeholders,
transition pathways for ecosystems, where needed,
o Consider measures to support the uptake of corporate
renewable Power Purchase Agreements, as part of the
revised Renewable Energy Directive in June 2021; consider a
European approach for carbon contracts for difference in the
proposal for a revised Emissions Trading System Directive;
o Develop the Energy and Industry Geography Lab, in
collaboration with industrial stakeholders, which will provide
geospatial information for companies and energy
infrastructure planners.
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DIGITAL
Wil the different instruments launched by the Commission be
affected by the preparation of the European Chips Act? (IPCEI,
Industrial Al iance on Processors and Semiconductor technologies,
Key Digital Technology Joint Undertaking (KDT JU), InvestEU,
Digital Europe Programme (DEP), …)
• The Chips Act wil draw on existing initiatives to reinforce the
semiconductors ecosystem in the European Union. That being
said, these initiatives have very defined scopes and targets, which
wil remain valid also under the Chips Act. To name one, the IPCEI
is very important and must proceed as soon as possible.
Are there documents on scopes and ambitions of the Chips Act to
start internal discussion with Ministry, industries and stakeholders?
• They are under preparation and wil be available as soon as
possible. Any input to define roadmaps is appreciated.
Background information
Name of Cabinet Member:
Name of the Director who has cleared the briefing:
BASIS request ID:
Room, time:
Participants:
Name of main contact person:
Telephone number:
Directorate/Unit:
European Round Table for Industry (ERT)
The European Round Table for Industry (ERT) has a long history of promoting
competitiveness and prosperity in Europe. In April 1983, 17 leading European
business leaders came together to launch ERT. They were then, as we are
now, united by a belief that European co-operation between industry,
27
policymakers and al stakeholders is essential to strengthen Europe’s place in
the world.
Today, ERT Members include CEOs and Chairs from around 60 of Europe’s
largest companies in the industrial and technological sector. We are
committed to creating a strong, open and competitive Europe through which
we promote sustainable growth, jobs and prosperity for al .
We publish reports and papers, which we share with the public, decision
makers in European and global institutions and national governments. They
are the basis for discussion and action. We advocate policies that underpin the
values of freedom, tolerance, equality and openness.
The companies led by ERT members represent 5 mil ion direct jobs global y,
€2,000 bil ion combined annual revenues and €60 bil ion investment in R&D
each year.
FINANCE
Capital Markets Union and European Single Access Point
Well-functioning financial markets are a key element of the Commission’s
priority of establishing a Capital Markets Union (CMU), which is intended to
help build a true Single Market for capital across the EU.
99% of European companies are SMEs, which employ around 90 mil ion people
in Europe, 67% of the total.
ENVIRONMENT AND CONSUMERS
Common European standards for green products and services
In respect of Energy-related products, the Joint Technical Committee, CEN-
CENELEC/JTC 10 “Energy-related products – Material Efficiency Aspects for
Ecodesign”, has developed standards to set forth methods to assess among
others repair, reuse, and upgrade of energy-related products or the proportion
of reused components in energy-related products.
Another example: the European Plastics Strategy explicitly refers to European
quality standards to increase confidence that recycled plastics meet
manufacturer needs. There are also standards to calculate recycling rates and
plastics recycling traceability.
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Enforce a consistent interpretation of product safety standards
While product rules are set out EU level, market surveil ance is the
competence of Member States. Given that these products flow freely across
EU internal borders, it is necessary to have an EU framework on market
surveil ance. Evaluation found the previous system (regulated through Chapter
III of Regulation (EC) 765/2008) to be insufficient.
DIGITAL
State of play the ePrivacy Regulation negotiations
The European Commission adopted the ePrivacy Regulation (ePR) proposal in
2017. The EP adopted its position in October 2017 and the Council adopted its
position in February 2021. Trilogues started under PT Presidency; SI Presidency
has continued the negotiations.
A first introductory trilogue took place on 20 May. Six technical meetings have
taken place so far. A second trilogue wil most probably take place in
November but has not been scheduled yet.
The co-legislators are currently discussing Chapter III (cal er line identification,
emergency communications, directories and spam), Chapter V (remedies,
liability and penalties) and Chapter VI (delegated and implemented acts).
Considerable progress was made on those provisions and the discussions are
taking place in a constructive atmosphere. Compromises on most provisions of
these chapters were found with a few issues that need to be further clarified
and where compromises appear reachable. The next political trilogue wil open
the discussions of additional, and more complex, chapters.
European Chips Act
The European Chips Act should address three dimensions:
• Research strategy: Europe already has first-rate research institutions.
Building on the existing research partnership, EU needs to design a
strategy to push the research ambitions to the next level while
preserving strategic interests.
• Enhance European production capacity: EU needs to have a clear picture
of the bottlenecks in the semiconductors supply chain, in different types
of components for the main markets. It is necessary to anticipate
possible future disruptions, and ensure resilience of the entire supply
29
chain.
• Create a framework for international cooperation and partnership: EU
needs to define priorities for investments and to diversify supply chains
to support the development of European fabrication plants able to
produce the most advanced and energy-efficient chips in high volume.
ENERGY
Guarantees of Origin for Electricity
The current Renewable Energy Directive ensures that al non-supported
renewable energy generation has the right to receive a Guarantee of Origin.
Several stakeholders have asked for improvements to the existing system by
reducing administrative barriers for private companies and using guarantees of
origin to promote the use of electricity from renewable sources by improving
the information to consumers.
Some improvements are already expected through the implementation of the
existing provisions of REDII and the Directive on common rules for the internal
market for electricity (for example with the real-time supply contracts and the
requirement to use GO for electricity disclosure).
It is widely acknowledged that the prerogative of the Member States to decide
not to issue a guarantee of origin for supported renewable energy generation
is a significant barrier for PPAs as well as for more harmonised consumer
information. We have therefore included in our proposal the obligation that al
renewable energy production should be able to request a guarantee of origin.
The directive provides al necessary options for Member States to issue
guarantees of origin also in case renewable energy generation is supported e.g.
via tendering or tradeable green certificates.
Certification for biomass-based fuels
Low indirect land use change risks certification must avoid any burden and
discriminatory administrative barriers, specifical y for third countries economic
operators
The Implementing Act on rules for voluntary schemes, certifying the
sustainability of biomass and respective fuels, wil also provide very clear rules
for applying the low ILUC-risk certification concept across the board and for
30
any feedstock, which may be identified as high ILUC-risk in the future and
respectively be subject to low ILUC-risk certification.
This implementing act wil bring the clarity and predictability that is being
sought by the economic operators, creating a level playing field for al in the
process of certifying biomass as low ILUC risk.
The implementing act has been recently published for public feedback. After
considering al stakeholder feedback, it wil be subject to a vote of the
responsible Committee.
Certification for hydrogen
Final y, the proposal extends the certification framework and the associated
database used for certifying and enabling the tracing of liquid and gaseous
transport fuels to al renewable fuels, including renewable hydrogen.
The proposals on hydrogen in the Renewables Directive need to be considered
together with the proposals for renewable and low-carbon hydrogen under the
EU ETS, the ETD, the AFID and the FuelEU initiatives on the maritime and
aviation sector.
As low carbon hydrogen is not a renewable fuel, its certification wil be
addressed in the hydrogen and gas decarbonisation package that wil be put
forward by the end of the year.
31
Electronically signed on 10/01/2022 18:20 (UTC+01) in accordance with article 11 of Commission Decision C(2020) 4482
