The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, reaffirmed the European Commission’s support for the development of hydrogen production on a European scale and expressed the hope that the next parliamentary term would continue along this path, during a speech at the Hydrogen Council Event in Berlin on Tuesday 11 June.
“Without the development of the European hydrogen sector, we will not be able to meet our climate targets, we will not be able to modernise our economy and we will not be able to reduce the carbon footprint of European businesses”, he told representatives of the hydrogen industry.
He called for the European hydrogen sector to be strengthened along the entire value chain - from production to transport and final consumption - in order to promote the EU’s energy security and strategic autonomy.
He went on to say, in a personal capacity, that it was vital to take action on public procurement to ensure that companies “that produce with a low carbon footprint, that are sustainable and that treat their workforce with dignity” are rewarded for their efforts.
Referring to the results of the European Hydrogen Bank’s first auction, he acknowledged the comments and criticisms raised by the industry (see EUROPE 13416/8) and said that he wanted to take them into account in the second auction, which he hoped to be able to set up by the end of the year, if there was the political will after the elections.
Finally, he said that he wanted to use the experience gained from the EU platform for joint gas procurement to establish joint hydrogen procurement (see EUROPE 13422/3) and step up efforts to get closer to the target, considered ambitious by the industry, of producing 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)