Strasbourg (France) (EFE).- The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, assured that the reform of the community electricity market, which is presented today, has “at its center” that the consumer benefits from the lower cost of renewable energies that will gain weight in the coming years.
In an interview with the European Writing of Agencies (ENR), including EFE, Von der Leyen advanced objectives of this reform, which Spain claimed during the energy price crisis, as well as plans for the EU to compete with the US. USA and China in the technological race of the zero emission economy.
Question: What are the keys to the proposals you are presenting this week?
Answer: It is a package that focuses on the cleantech industry, supporting it, facilitating it and investing in it.
It is essential to achieve our objectives in the European Green Deal and in the digital transition and it is a fast-growing market, which will triple in value by 2030. Investments made last year reached one trillion euros, 30% more than the previous year.
Q. Will the balance between national and industry interests be put to the test against the European interest?
R. The package shows that we can cut emissions and have a growth strategy, because at a global level there is a strong push for clean technologies and we want to lead in that industry.
The Zero Emissions Industry Act will focus on speed and investment, it has a major emphasis on speeding up permits. It is critical that they are allowed to experiment in less regulated ways and where they can accelerate the development of technologies. And the investment is with the possibility of tax reductions both to state aid and financing at the European level.
The second block is the Law of Critical Raw Materials, which will go about ensuring our value chains (…) We have to reinforce and diversify them because without these materials there is no digital or green transition. Here also comes the acceleration of permits to mine and process raw materials and there is a great emphasis on recycling materials such as batteries, lithium, nickel or cobalt.
The third element is the importation of those raw materials, where we should work with like-minded partners, such as Canada. We have a proposal to create a club for critical raw materials.
Q. Why doesn’t the Commission propose decoupling the prices of electricity and gas in its reform of the electricity market?
A. The reform will drastically reduce the impact of gas on the price of electricity. We have an intraday market that works well but we have to improve on long-term contracts. We introduce contracts for difference, long-term buy-sell agreements. At the heart of this reform are consumers, a fundamental objective of the reform is to bring the benefit of the low cost of renewables to consumers.
Q. Will it be possible to start with minor changes in the market and go deeply into the reform after the 2024 elections?
R. It is a very well thought out proposal, very mature, we have talked a lot with experts. I think it’s worth working on to get it ready before the European elections.
Q. What will be the role of nuclear energy?
A. The type of energy mix with which each Member State wants to achieve the climate objectives depends on them.
Q. What lessons does the EU draw from the war in Ukraine in order to increase the resilience of the network?
A. It is very good that we have a broader energy union than the European Union is, and this also includes Ukraine. Months ago, Ukraine could supply electricity to the European market. We now supply electricity to Ukraine and will continue to do so, but this shows that this deep integration of the energy market is insurance against crises.
Q. There are leaks about the Zero Emissions Industry law and analysts call it protectionist.
R. There is not a single point that is protectionist. It is a very open law (…) We have made a very conscious decision to have this open attitude to work with like-minded partners.
Q. Is Washington’s response sufficient to address European concerns about the Inflation Reduction Act?
A. The agreement we found was essential because it confirms the access that electric vehicles from the European market have to the US market.
Secondly, we are working on an agreement so that critical raw materials from the EU have access to the American market – and, therefore, the production of batteries – so that we are treated like Canada and Mexico, as if we had a free trade agreement.
The third element is the agreement on a transparency dialogue on our incentives for investments in the clean technology industry (…) It is very important that the two largest economic powers move forward, determined to fight against global warming.
Regarding China, it is important for the EU to reduce the risk but not disengage. Reducing risks means we don’t want dependencies like with Russia and fossil fuels.
We do not want to depend, for example, on critical raw materials (…) What we want is a level playing field. Fair access for our companies to the Chinese market, transparency in subsidies and a very clear commitment to respect intellectual property.
Q. What is the objective of the dialogue on incentives with the US?
R. It is that we are clear on both sides of the Atlantic how the subsidies are being applied. It is important that we can have a matching clause that tells companies that are thinking of investing or moving their investments to the US: show us what is offered to you, we will match it (…).
The goal is for companies to know quickly and be able to accurately calculate what the investment, public money or access to public money brings them.