Net-Zero Industry Act: Council and Parliament shake hands

The Council and European Parliament have provisionally agreed on the 'Net-Zero Industry Act' to boost Europe's technology manufacturing. On the one hand, the agreement encourages innovation. On the other hand, it unfortunately gives the same level of public support to renewable technologies as to nuclear energy and capture and carbon storage technology. This text still needs to be endorsed by both institutions.

The industrial contribution towards climate neutrality

The net-zero industry act aims to ease conditions for investing in green technologies, by simplifying permit-granting procedures and supporting strategic projects. It also proposes to ease market access for strategic technology products, enhance the skills of the European workforce in these sectors (notably through the launching of net-zero industry academies) and create a platform to coordinate EU action in this area.

To foster innovation, the net-zero industry act proposes favourable regulatory frameworks to be created for developing, testing and validating innovative technologies (known as regulatory sandboxes).

Progress towards the objectives of the net-zero industry act will be measured by two indicative benchmarks: reaching 40% of the production required to cover EU’s needs in strategic technology products, and their evolution in comparison to world production for products such as solar photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, batteries and heat pumps. The proposal also sets a specific target for CO2 carbon capture and storage, with an annual injection capacity of at least 50 million tonnes to be achieved by 2030.

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