Industry and finance
In March 2023, in the framework of the Green Deal Industrial Plan, the European Commission proposed the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), to boost and expand Europe’s manufacturing capabilities for net-zero technologies.
The NZIA aims to scale up the manufacturing of technologies which are key to achieving climate neutrality – such as heat pump technology and its key components. The objective is to approach or reach, in aggregate, at least 40% of the annual deployment needs for strategic net-zero technologies manufactured in the EU by 2030.
This will help achieve the goals of Fit-for-55 and REPowerEU while boosting competitiveness and lowering the EU’s dependency on net-zero technologies imported from abroad.
The Plenary session of the European Parliament approved the text proposed by Rapporteur Christian Ehler (EPP, Germany) on 21 November 2023, while the Member States agreed on the General Approach on 7 December 2023. Inter-institutional negotiations (trilogues) started in December 2023 and ended in February 2024.
The NZIA reinforces the European Commission’s Industrial Policy Package, published in 2020. It includes a new industrial strategy for Europe together with an SME Strategy, a Single Market Barriers Report and the Enforcement Action Plan for the Single Market.
It also establishes a set of fundamentals to make European industries emission-free. Modernising and decarbonising energy-intensive industries is one of the top priorities.
EHPA supports making heat pumps a cornerstone of Europe’s journey to net zero.
The aim of the EU Taxonomy is to ‘guide’ investors towards sustainable economic sectors.
EHPA supports heat pumps being recognised as sustainable under the EU Taxonomy in order to channel investments to them.
In May 2020, the EU adopted a ‘recovery plan for Europe’, which will provide €1.8 trillion of support in combination with the EU budget. This is the largest EU stimulus fund ever approved, and 30% of funds are allocated to prevent climate change: the highest share of all EU budgets in history.
EHPA has been promoting heat pumps as ‘critical infrastructure’ for the health of EU citizens and a sustainable sector providing local jobs for EU governments to invest in.
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