The European Institute of Romania (EIR) organised a new debate within the online series entitled European News in the Spotlight which had the objective of informing the general public about the importance that the Council of the European Union has in coordinating the policies of the Member States in specific areas, bringing into debate topics that are priorities on the agenda of the current Presidency.
The event was organised in partnership with the Embassy of Romania to the Kingdom of Spain and took place on Tuesday, 7 November 2023, online format (Zoom platform), between 11:00 – 13:00 (Bucharest time), with the topic The green reindustrialization of the European Union: striving for long-term competitiveness.
Representatives of European and national institutions, research organisations and academia from Romania and other EU’s Member States, civil society, mass media etc. took part in the event.
The interventions were delivered in English and, among the issues discussed, some of the following ideas were highlighted:
- The reindustrialization of the EU implies the transition to a green industry, the promotion of clean energy technologies, but also poses challenges related to the EU’s competitivity.
- The EU’s long-term competitivity represents a priority that requires a special focus on the investments in industry, the open strategic autonomy in terms of resource availability and energy efficiency; in this context, the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU is working for the reindustrialization of the European Union and for ensuring the agreement between member states regarding the policies on the green industrialization.
- The EU is shifting towards a more sustainable way of life through specific initiatives, such as the European Green Deal and the decarbonisation of the economy; to achieve these goals, the Union adopts measures to secure its supply with critical raw materials, considering the entire value chain, from extraction to recycling (i.e., the European Critical Raw Material Act, and the Net-Zero Industry Act which contributes to reaching the climate-neutrality objective).
- The EU has to rethink its relationship with China, focusing on de-risking, not on decoupling.
- The EU invests in research and development to foster innovation and technological progress in the industrial sector; nevertheless, regarding its capacity to attract foreign investments and to support the business sector, it was mentioned that the EU fell behind the United States and China;
- Romania is seen by the European institutions as a trustworthy partner, as it endeavours to address the challenges related to the green transition; this year, in April, Romania made a commitment to reach the climate-neutrality objective by 2050.
- The recent developments in the industry and in digitalisation, for which the production of semiconductors is of utmost importance, have been highlighted; the green transition of Romania’s industry can be financed through the Modernization Fund and the Just Transition Fund.
Speech notes – Carlos Puente Martin