Last Tuesday, 8th October, the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg held a breakfast debate with Jacek Truszczynski, Deputy Head of the Green and Circular Economy Unit of the European Commission. The presentation dealt with the role of innovation and financing in the Zero Net Emissions Industry Act and the Key Raw Materials Act.

After a brief presentation by the President of the Chamber, Pablo López-Álvarez, Susana Garayoa, Head of European Institutional Relations and Public Affairs at Zabala Innovation, sponsor of the event, took the floor. In her speech, Garayoa thanked the speaker for his willingness to offer his perspectives on issues such as competitiveness and European innovation.

Truszczynski then began his speech by explaining that the Zero Emissions Industry Act aims to support the creation of renewable energy sources such as solar panels, wind generators or electrolysers.

‘The act has two main objectives,’ he said. The first is energy security, as ‘Europe is currently over-dependent’ on external actors for the supply of advanced energy generation technologies.

The second objective is economic, as this market is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years, so facilitating the European energy industry’s activity in renewables will be positive for the generation of wealth in the EU.

Towards a sustainable and prosperous Europe

The speaker gave key details of this regulation, which sets a target for 2030: that at least 40% of renewable energy generation systems deployed in Europe should be of European manufacture.

To this end, it is proposed to give European companies advantages, such as a higher score in public tenders, administrative facilities and more generous subsidies through instruments such as the Innovation Fund.

The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session in which the audience raised questions related to European funds for competitiveness or the financing of the Hydrogen Bank.

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