Dependence on rare resources, climate challenges, energy transition, industrial competitiveness... Europe may seem to be far behind in the current geopolitical game and the trends that are emerging. for the future.
For the Old Continent, the time for questioning and action has therefore come. And that's the whole point of Clean Industrial Deal, unveiled on 26 February by the European Commission.
This pact seeks to reconcile decarbonization, reindustrialization and innovation, in a long-term vision aimed at rGiving Europe back the keys to its sovereignty and competitiveness.
To place the hopes of an entire continent in a project that is both economic and environmental? At a time when the United States and China tend to turn a blind eye to environmental and social issues in order to focus on their growth? The idea seems ambitious at the very least.
To find out more, let's dive together into the heart of this structuring deal for industrial competitiveness in Europe and the preservation of the environment.
In the summary of this article:
To start this article, let's take a step back and focus on the history and issues that led to the Clean Industrial Deal.
As mentioned in the introduction, the Clean Industrial Deal is at the crossroads of two main strategic challenges for Europe and the world :
The shock caused by current geopolitical events and the risk of downgrading Europe on the global stage has strengthened the European Commission's determination to quickly find and deploy new growth strategies.
Indeed, it has become clear that European countries are largely dependent on the resources and industrial power of other players.. In recent years, rising energy prices and dependence on critical raw materials have undermined many European industrial sectors, in particular batteries and strategic materials. This situation is currently showing its limits in the light of protectionist policies and trade wars that are strengthening among some of Europe's historical partners.
It is therefore essential to Establishing a framework for maintaining Europe's industrial sovereignty and relaunching its competitiveness, a finding that was widely shared in particular following the publication of various recommendations, including the report”The future of European competitiveness” by Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank.
The Clean Industrial Deal was born from another observation: European industry must reduce its CO2 emissions and adopt more sustainable models to meet its ecological commitments and participate in the global effort to protect the environment.
As of 2019, with the Green Deal, the European Commission has started to structure a greener industrial policy. But faced with the need to accelerate the energy and industrial transition to boost action against climate change, Europe needed to go even further. This was all the more necessary as the recent withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement clearly threatens the commitments made in favor of the environment.
To make progress on these two fronts, which are Europe's industrial sovereignty and respect for environmental considerations, the European Commission has identified a key project, both economic and social, at the heart of the Clean Industrial Deal.
Let us cite the European Commission as the preamble to His presentation of the Clean European Deal:”Faced with high energy costs and fierce global competition, European industries need urgent support. The Clean Industry Pact defines concrete actions for Making decarbonization a growth driver for European industry. This includes lowering energy prices and creating quality jobs and conditions for businesses to thrive.”
In addition, in order to optimize Europe's limited natural resources and reduce its dependence on imports, The Clean Industrial Deal focuses on circularity, that is, the reduction of waste and the extension of the life of materials by promoting recycling, reuse and sustainable production (actions in which VoltR is fully committed). Note that the 2026 date for Circular Economy Act, which reinforces the Circular Economy Action Plan 2020, to push European industries to more circularity.
To conclude this part devoted to the challenges of the Clean Industrial Deal, let's recall The words of Stéphane Séjourné, then Executive Vice President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy at the European Commission: “This plan aims to strengthen our unique European model based on industrial decarbonization in order to create production made in Europe that is sustainable and competitive.. It is about producing more and better not only for environmental reasons, but also as a strategy for economic growth and as a security imperative.”
Let's now dig into the main lines of action desired by the European Commission.
The Clean Industrial Deal is therefore an ambitious pact aimed at reconciling the revival of competitiveness and the environmental and energy transition, by placing decarbonization and the circular economy at the heart of European industrial strategy.
It focuses on two types of industries in particular:
To support these transformations, the Clean Industrial Deal offers six key drivers :
According to the Commission,”affordable energy is the cornerstone of competitiveness.”.
The situation is indeed bitter. :”Energy poverty affects more than 46 million Europeans and electricity is around three times more expensive than gas in many European countries. For industries, retail electricity prices have almost doubled since the start of the energy crisis in 2021.”
To guarantee affordable energy, Europe is focusing on several axes, presented in its”Affordable Energy Action Plan”:
The Commission intends encourage sustainable products made in the European Union.
To do this, public and private tenders are called upon to evolve, with the integration of sustainability and resilience criteria, preferably European ones. The objective is twofold:
More than 100 billion euros will be mobilized to support the manufacture of more environmentally friendly products in Europe.
Several levers will be activated:
As we have seen, optimize theaccess to critical raw materials is a priority for Europe.
The European Commission's action on this point will aim at:
Europe wants to maintain its place at the international level, and needs reliable international partners to do so.
In this sense, the European Commission will:
Finally, the Commission underlines that training, skills development and the creation of skilled jobs are essential to meet the needs of industries in transition.
Europe therefore wants to set up a Skills Union., and will strengthen education and training programs to develop a skilled workforce. Financing options of up to 90 million EUR will be proposed.
By promoting the circular economy and eco-design, the Clean Industrial Deal contributes to the creation of a more virtuous industrial and economic system.
The circular economy, by reducing dependence on virgin raw materials and by recovering waste, makes it possible to reduce the environmental impact of European industry. It also creates new economic opportunities and strengthens the resilience of businesses in the face of fluctuations in commodity markets.
Ecodesign of products, which consists of designing products taking into account their environmental impact throughout their life cycle, is a key element of this industrial approach.
From our point of view as a manufacturer of eco-designed lithium batteries, the Clean Industrial Deal is a very encouraging device, whose vision we fully share.
Our solutions for collecting used lithium batteries and manufacturing new batteries from second-life cells are directly in line with the goals of the Clean Industrial Deal:
The Clean Industrial Deal gives us additional impetus to accelerate our model and strengthen European industrial sovereignty. At VoltR, we are ready to take up this challenge and to build with our partners, a more competitive and more circular industry.
