Discussions are progressing for the shadow rapporteurs on the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) in the European Parliament’s Industry Committee (ITRE). With 3 weeks to go before the vote, scheduled for 25 October, the negotiations held earlier this week enabled some of the final key points of the text to be finalised, in particular the ‘market access’ section. The rapporteurs had previously agreed on the selection criteria for strategic ‘net zero’ projects and the details of the deadlines for granting permits (see EUROPE 13260/4). A final meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 10 October to officially validate the various compromises and final technical details.
More support for European projects
According to several sources, the recent amendments to the text will, among other things, encourage European initiatives, particularly in the areas of public procurement and auctions. One of the amendments under discussion aims to introduce slightly stricter ‘pre-qualification’ criteria for the selection of bids: before a project can be considered, it will have to comply with a number of points in order to be eligible to bid. Applications from countries subject to restrictions for non-compliance with the International Procurement Instrument (IPI) regulation will be rejected. Nor should projects be made up of more than 50% components sourced exclusively from a third country, whereas the Commission is talking about 65%. Waivers are provided for in the event that a call for tenders is unsuccessful. At this stage, these criteria seem to have convinced the majority of MEPs.
Raising sustainability targets
Another part of these changes concerns the calculation of the contribution of the proposed projects to the Union’s resilience and sustainability. In the Commission’s compromise, this contribution was to account for 15 to 30% of the overall assessment of a project with a view to a call for tenders or an auction. MEPs were keen to raise this threshold: it should now count for at least 30% of the overall assessment.
With regard to the list of strategic technologies, the rapporteurs on the NZIA do not wish to maintain a list of eight strategic technologies in addition to the enlarged list including nuclear power (see EUROPE 13245/2).
The sustainable fuels industry wants to be included
As the vote on the text draws nearer, a collective of fuel industry representatives and lobbyists sent a letter on Tuesday 3 October to Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and several rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs calling for the NZIA to include sustainable alternative fuels in its list of technologies. The letter stresses “the need for a clear and consistent definition of sustainable alternative fuels” and calls for these fuels “to be adequately recognised in order to decarbonise transport, by encouraging innovation and the transition to renewable solutions”.
The letter: https://aeur.eu/f/8y6 (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)