European Parliament position on Net-Zero Industry Act

Today the European Parliament adopted its ITRE Committee's position on the EU Net Zero Industry Act. SolarPower Europe issued the following statement.

Dries Acke, Policy Director at SolarPower Europe (he/him), said: 

“Using non-price criteria is a good idea to reward more sustainable and more locally produced technologies.

However, we’ve been clear that a fundamental shift in public auctions and procurement like this should be phased-in gradually and be tailored to the specific supply chain starting point of solar PV, as also proposed by the European Solar Industry Alliance. 

It would be a mistake to apply these criteria sweepingly to all auctions and to all technologies alike from day one. So, we’re pleased to see the Parliament proposal to have technology-specific guidance from the European Commission six months after adoption of the Act on how and when to apply these non-price criteria.

The Parliament position, however, has one ugly turn. It introduces pre-qualification criteria on local content, meaning that technologies that are partially produced outside Europe are not even allowed to bid into public auctions. This is a red flag for the solar sector and for those committed to the EU’s energy security and climate goals. 

Two things can be true; We must work harder to support European solar manufacturing and Europe needs to be part of a globalised solar supply chain to meet climate and energy targets.”

Notes 

• Our position on the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan.
• The European Solar PV Industrial Alliance paper on well-designed resilience auctions.

Commissioner Thierry Breton speaks at the European Parliament in Strasbourg during a debate on the the EU Net-Zero Industry Act on Monday 20th November 2023.

© European Union 2023 - Source : EP (download here)