In the wake of the European Council’s call for a new Competitiveness Deal and Enrico Letta’s report on the Single Market, and ahead of the European Parliament’s vote on the Net Zero Industry Act on Thursday, 24 leading cleantech scale ups, investors, industry associations and think tanks – including EUREC – have signed an open letter calling for a Cleantech Competitiveness Deal.
The letter, addressed to lead candidates in the upcoming European elections, lays out a new strategic vision for how cleantech can ensure our future competitiveness. It calls on candidates across parties to enact a Cleantech Competitiveness Deal as a first priority for the next mandate, with the following priorities:
- Invest at scale now: Europe needs a Cleantech Investment Plan which mobilises institutional investors, boosts and broadens the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s counter-guarantee facility, and leverages revenues from the Emissions Trading System to invest in the scale-up of EU clean technologies.
- Concrete Action Plans for Cleantech Manufacturing in Europe: the EU should build on the successful model of the Wind Power Action Plan to develop targeted, tailored policy and financing plans to support the scale-up of strategic cleantech sectors
- Plan for the future: the EU should chart a vision for the next generation of cleantech breakthroughs and develop strategic plans to attract and develop innovative, growing sectors crucial to our long-term competitive sustainability. This means defending research and growth funding to nurture the next generation of cleantech leaders.
Read the full letter here.