According to a European Commission source consulted by EUROPE on Thursday 9 July, the new European Clean Hydrogen Alliance will not have a fixed governance board, but will operate according to a “flexible model”.
In order to ensure the inclusion of all stakeholders in the hydrogen sector, the development of the Alliance will be driven by a core group of Member States, industry representatives and others (civil society, investors, regions, trade unions, etc.) in high-level meetings in which these participants are represented in a balanced way, explains this source.
These meetings, organised at the level of Commissioners or Vice-Presidents of the Commission, will therefore not have a fixed configuration.
Officially launched on Wednesday 8 July, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance is a European initiative to channel the investment needed to produce hydrogen and to develop a pipeline of tangible projects in this sector in order to deploy “clean hydrogen” in Europe.
“We want Europe to be the industrial leader in clean hydrogen, for the sake of our economy and for future generations”, said Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market, at the Alliance’s launch.
He added: “For it to be successful, the Alliance must above all be inclusive. And [it must] ensure cooperation at all levels: I am talking about Member States and companies, but also about local authorities, NGOs, trade unions and civil society”.
A few hours earlier, during the presentation of the EU Hydrogen Strategy to the press (see EUROPE 12523/1), the Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, stressed the importance of including both industry and NGOs in the strategy, in order to “create balance”.
It must be said that, a few days before the launch of this initiative, a document unveiled by the press and detailed in our articles (see EUROPE 12521/5) drew strong criticism from some NGOs because of the approach to governance that it presented.
This text proposed that the Alliance be led by a steering committee composed mainly of directors of hydrogen-related industrial organisations, with only three representatives from civil society.
The Commission’s role.
As a “strategic tool” to guide and coordinate the development of clean hydrogen production and use in the Union, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance intends to cover the entire hydrogen value chain, from production to end-use.
To this end, it will operate through six “round tables”, each focusing on a hydrogen-related activity: production; transmission and distribution; mobility; residential applications; industrial applications; and the energy sector.
The European Commission will be involved in these round tables and will monitor the Alliance’s development through the holding of high-level meetings.
In addition, it will organise a ‘European Hydrogen Forum’ at least once a year, bringing together all Alliance members and hydrogen stakeholders to discuss the results and ongoing work.
The first of these forums is scheduled for 26 and 27 November. The round tables will begin in September and October.
Finally, it should be noted that any public or private entity with activities in the field of renewable or low-carbon hydrogen can apply to join the Alliance. The Commission is expected to publish and regularly update a list of organisations that have joined this initiative.
See the Alliance website: https://bit.ly/2ChsIJy (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)