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Euronews
24-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
German election fallout, Newsletter
Key diary dates Wednesday 26 February – Commission to publish Action Plan for Affordable Energy and Clean Industrial Deal. Wednesday 26 February – Commission to publish 'omnibus' package to lighten reporting requirements for businesses. Thursday 27 February – College of Commissioners to visit India to launch negotiations for a strategic partnership. In spotlight This week's publication by the Commission of its 'omnibus' proposal – set to contain measures designed to clip back at onerous reporting obligations for business – will likely chime with Germany's new political landscape. European People's Party lead environment MEP - German lawmaker Peter Liese – last week dismissed calls from the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to reconsider plans to reopen legislation requiring firms to ensure there is no environmental damage or abuse of human rights along their supply chains. Liese last week briefed reporters that he trusted that the omnibus 'will be a courageous proposal'. Despite the drive to free businesses of environmental obligations, Liese was adamant the EPP remained committed to EU climate goals, including a 55% emissions cut by 2030 compared to 1990, and net zero by the middle of the century. Speaking before heading to Germany to campaign for Friedrich Merz before the CDU general election win yesterday, Liese said Germany's next chancellor shared his commitment to climate action. He also said that Merz could be trusted not to work with the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party. 'I campaigned for him in his first campaign for the European Parliament in 1989, and really, you can trust that he will not work with the [far-right party] AfD,' Liese said. Aside from the omnibus proposal however the AfD's ability to stymie any coalition government created by Merz will be closely watched in Brussels. Merz wants to exclude German defence expenditure from the country's fiscal debt to push a significant bolstering of military hardware – a priority in view of Trump's detachment of the US from support for Ukraine and Europe. The fiscal measure Merz wants can be pushed through the Bundestag on a simple majority vote, but in order to make it a more permanent measure requires a constitutional fix requiring the support of two-thirds of the German parliament. Might the AfD attempt to stymie that once the new Bundestag comes into play after the end of March? The head of the AfD delegation in the European Parliament, René Aust, told Euronews in an exclusive interview on the eve of the election last week that the party would support any legislation it considers 'good for the people', regardless of who proposes it, and that 'we don't care if it comes from the Greens or from the left". Yesterday's election left the AfD with 152 seats in the Bundestag, while the leftist Die Linke party won 64 seats. Combined, both parties just top one-third of the chamber - enough to block Merz's attempt to kick start European defence strategy with a bazooka should they so wish. Policy newsmakers Omnibus confidence The two largest political groups in the European Parliament have been outspoken about their expectations for the Omnibus package on sustainability, which is set to be presented by the European Commission on Wednesday (26 February). On Friday, Iratxe García Pérez, leader of S&D, sent an open letter urging Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to reconsider plans to reopen legislation requiring firms to ensure there is no environmental damage or abuse of human rights along their supply chains. However, European People's Party lawmakers remain confident that the package will be presented in line with the party's position. "I trust in the common sense of the Commission that this letter will not be successful, that we will have the Omnibus covering all four legislations, and that it will be a courageous proposal,' said Peter Liese, the EPP's environment leader, while briefing reporters in Brussels. Policy Poll
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Eyeing China and US, EU hopes clean tech boost will spark growth
How do you solve Europe's lagging economic growth and reverse its industrial decline? That is the challenge the EU faces as the bloc comes under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump's tariffs and a rising China. Europe's answer to bring its economy back to life is a battery of measures to be announced next week including boosting its clean tech sector and supporting energy-intensive industries by slashing red tape and costs. There will be a drive to bring energy prices down for households and businesses, and pushing cheaper and cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. European companies bemoan Europe's "overregulation" -- especially environmental rules pushed by von der Leyen during her first term -- and high energy costs as impediments to competing with their American and Chinese rivals. European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has made it clear she is listening and changed course early in her second term, focusing on making life easier for businesses. With Trump pushing against his predecessor's clean tech efforts, Brussels believes there is an opportunity for Europe to attract clean tech investment. The EU's strategy -- dubbed the "Clean Industrial Deal" -- will be made up of six pillars to decarbonise the bloc's industry including incentivising more investment. "At a time when a number of international players are calling the European model into question, the best response is first and foremost to strengthen our own model," EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne said this week. Sejourne will unveil the measures on February 26 alongside competition commissioner Teresa Ribera. - Protecting EU industry - Von der Leyen's medley of measures include favouring European business and products and simplifying state aid rules but there is little information about funding. There will be a proposal to "make European preference criteria a structural feature" for public tenders in "strategic sectors", the document said. And the EU will establish a centre dedicated to critical raw materials -- key elements used in electronics and clean tech -- for joint purchases by groups of European firms. Facing Trump tariffs and growing protectionism, the EU will defend its industries by ensuring "fast and efficient use" of its trade defence instruments, the 22-page document said. "Energy-intensive industries... require urgent support to confront high energy costs, unfair global competition and complex regulations harming their competitiveness," the commission said. The EU will also publish an "Action Plan for Affordable Energy" on February 26, a separate document in which Brussels lays out how it will cut energy costs. A draft document seen by AFP will tell states to lower taxes on electricity bills and pool demand for joint purchases of liquefied natural gas for EU companies. It makes no reference to Trump or his looming tariffs but von der Leyen has previously suggested replacing Russian LNG imports with US gas. Greg Van Elsen of Climate Action Network Europe welcomed the EU not backtracking on its pledge to cut emissions but pointed to gaps. "What's disappointing is the draft falls short of having energy savings or resource use reduction as drivers for more resilient economies. And with the financing part still lacking detail and ambition, the big question remains: who will foot the bill?" he said. - 'Play to our strengths' - EU lawmakers, however, welcomed the EU's initiative. "It is the first EU instrument that puts industrial competitiveness at the centre of EU politics," said Christian Ehler, a German MEP for the right-wing EPP parliamentary group. The backflip by "the Trump administration towards an old 20th-century carbon economy makes the US Inflation Reduction Act less attractive and could refocus global investment, especially concerning net-zero technologies, towards Europe," he added. Trump froze funding under a law by his predecessor, which pumped billions of dollars into clean energy projects across the United States and caused consternation in the EU. Dutch liberal MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy said the commission's proposals amount to a repudiation of the false narrative that decarbonisation is holding back the European economy. "In fact, it is the arena where we are a leader. Let's play to our strengths," he said. raz/del/rl
Reuters
18-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU Commission to propose help to de-risk power deals, document shows
BRUSSELS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The European Commission will next week propose a broad package of measures to support struggling EU industries, including help to de-risk power purchase deals and simpler state aid rules, a draft of its Clean Industrial Deal showed on Tuesday. The Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made reversing Europe's industrial decline her key focus in her second term as president. In January, von der Leyen announced a Competitiveness Compass outlining the Commission's aims for the next two years. One of the landmark packages is the Clean Industrial Deal, which the Commission will announce next week. The deal aims to support energy-intensive industries that face "high energy costs, unfair global competition and complex regulations" as well as boost the clean-tech sector. As part of its plans to tackle high energy prices, the Commission is set to propose an Action Plan for Affordable Energy. The plan includes a pilot programme with the European Investment Bank to de-risk power purchase agreements with a focus on small and midcap companies. The EIB will also introduce a "Grids Manufacturing package" to provide guarantees for manufacturers of grid components. EU countries need to revamp and expand their power grids in order to meet the EU's climate change targets, which depend on electrification. The Commission also intends to simplify state aid rules by July this year and carbon duties, introduce dynamic gas storage targets and tell member states to "lower taxes on electricity to the legal minimum thresholds." European utility companies said last year the heavy tax burden was hampering new investments. The Commission also wants to mobilise funds from the next budget, known as the MFF, to provide "short-term improve the business case for EU-made clean manufacturing".
