The second session of interinstitutional negotiations on the ‘Net-Zero’ Industry Act (NZIA), held on Monday 22 January, failed to make any major progress, according to several sources.
After almost five hours of negotiations, the representatives of the European Parliament and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union were unable to reach agreement on the main points on the agenda: the scope of the text and public procurement. The difficulties in the discussions can be explained, among other things, by the distance between the positions of the two legislators on Article 10 and so-called ‘strategic’ technologies.
On the one hand, MEPs have extended the scope to the entire supply chain (components, materials and production machinery) and are proposing a single, extended list of technologies (see EUROPE 13297/1). On the other hand, the EU Council, like the Commission in its initial text, sets out two lists, one ‘strategic’ and one ‘non-strategic’ (see EUROPE 13309/1).
Article 10, which governs the selection criteria for strategic projects, crystallises the issues surrounding the text, as many other elements depend directly on it: permits, the obligations of States and the financing granted to projects, which are more widely extended in the Parliament’s text. On this point, the EU Council and Parliament are struggling to reconcile their positions.
The articles on auctions and contract selection criteria are also linked to the list of technologies covered by the regulation. Without progress on this list, the possibility of finding common ground risks becoming even more remote.
In a small step forward, however, albeit a minor one given the issues at stake in the text, the co-legislators reached agreement on the issue of CO2 capture. Parliament wanted to extend this obligation to sellers as well as producers, but was not successful. In return, the EU Council has approved the introduction of penalties if the obligations are not met.
The third trilogue negotiating session is scheduled for Tuesday 6 February. The question of holding a fourth trilogue has already been raised by Christian Ehler (EPP, German), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on this dossier, in view of the difficulty of the negotiations and the time required to finalise them. But for the moment, a fourth trilogue is not planned by the Belgian Presidency. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)