29 January 2025
EU Commission sets the direction for its competitiveness strategy
© European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0
The European Commission presented its ‘Competitiveness Compass’ a blueprint for actions to restore the competitiveness of the European economy. The document is good. It emphasises the need to accelerate the clean energy transition and boost electrification. Crucially, the Compass says the EU must have flexible and supportive State aid rules to help energy-intensive industries to switch to clean technologies which will help drive electrification.
It also says that the EU will be addressing the energy cost gap between the EU and its main competitors by addressing inefficiencies in the design of network tariffs and taxes in the short term. And highlights the importance of facilitating PPAs.
The EU wants more from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support clean tech. And highlights the need to focus on clean technologies where EU domestic production is under pressure from international competitors benefiting from uneven playing fields, non-transparent subsidies, or support policies that lead to structural overcapacity.
WindEurope’s CEO Giles Dickson said: “The Competitiveness Compass is spot on. It says we need to accelerate the clean energy transition and boost electrification. That energy intensive industries need need flexible state aid rules to help them decarbonise. And that we need to focus on the clean tech that’s key to decarbonisation and resilience. Great. The direction is clear. The wind industry is ready to help the EU deliver all this.”
