In Brussels on Tuesday 9 January, the European Commission launched the work of the third section, dedicated to renewable energy, of the EU Clean Energy Industrial Competitiveness and Innovation Forum, set up in the framework of the 'clean energy package' of November 2016.
The aim of this section of the Forum is to consolidate the industrial basis for renewables in the EU and to gather industry support to take advantage of the growth opportunities of the clean energy transition.
The first meeting of this section, chaired by the Commissioner for Energy and the Climate, Miguel Arias Canete, was attended by more than 20 CEOs and industry leaders, including SMEs, and other relevant actors, such as representatives from international organisations.
Those attending the meeting discussed ways of boosting the competitiveness of the EU renewable energy industry's value chain and the role of research, innovation and trade policy.
A public event involving all three sections of the Clean Energy Forum - the other two sections are dedicated to batteries and the construction sector respectively - will be held during the EU Industry Days on 22 and 23 February.
This new initiative will also serve as a springboard to assert EU industrial leadership in low-carbon energy technologies to be showcased at the ninth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM9), to be hosted jointly in 2018 by the Commission, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and at the third Mission Innovation meetings in Malmo and Copenhagen in the week of 22 to 25 May. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)