Statement 

“The Net Zero Industry Act strengthens the production capacities for net zero emissions technologies within Europe. In particular, the faster approval procedures and the simplification of the bureaucratic processes within the framework of national one-stop shops are a decisive lever for ensuring production capacities,” emphasizes Stephen Thimm, Managing Director of the BWO.

Faster approval procedures – including shortening the assessment of environmental impacts – must offer legal certainty for investors. Final investment decisions can only be made with concrete planning security.

The ports, as the central infrastructure for the establishment of so-called Net Zero Industry Valleys, are also of great importance. Stephen Thimm: “For the offshore industry, the ports are crucial locations for achieving the expansion goals. These cost-intensive infrastructure projects must be supported by the federal government financially, but also bureaucratically in the expansion.”

Measures will also be put in place to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of skilled workers to support the production of net-zero technologies in the EU. This includes the establishment of so-called Net-Zero Industry Academies, which will help to fill high-quality jobs in these important areas.

Overall, the Net Zero Industry Act is an important step towards a climate-neutral industry with strong production capacities within Europe.

The Critical Raw Materials Act, also published yesterday by the EU Commission, is of crucial importance for production capacities. Because certain raw materials are now classified as critical by the EU. Of the raw materials listed, copper and lithium, for example, are important for the offshore wind industry. “A shortage of certain raw materials has crucial implications for achieving our offshore development goals. We are therefore glad that the EU is tackling this issue holistically. We also strongly support benchmarks for the recycling of such critical raw materials,” explains Stephen Thimm.