On 26 February, the European Commission unveiled two key initiatives shaping Europe’s path towards clean energy and industrial competitiveness:
- The Clean Industrial Deal – a joint roadmap for decarbonisation and competitiveness, introducing a wide range of measures which include the creation of lead markets for sustainable products and mobilise investments for clean tech scale-ups.
- The Affordable Energy Action Plan – a strategic framework to reduce energy costs for citizens and industries through short-term measures and long-term structural reforms. The plan recognises the importance of demand-side management and smart energy solutions and also calls for an accelerated rollout of smart meters.
We highlight the following announcements from the Clean Industrial Deal:
- A major push for electrification and efficient energy use to cut energy costs: The Commission aims to raise the economy-wide electrification rate from 21.3% today to 32% by 2030 while deploying an additional 100 GW of renewable electricity capacity per year.
- A ‘Grids Manufacturing Package’ to strengthen Europe’s supply chain of grid, providing at least €1.5 billion in counter-guarantees for grid component manufacturers, backed by the European Investment Bank.
- A revision of the Public Procurement Directive in 2026 introducing stronger sustainability, resilience, and European preference criteria in EU public procurement.
- The EU is pushing on clean energy, electrification and smart grids, to drive down costs, enhance resilience, and create a competitive and sustainable economy. It rightly recognises the need for European preference criteria in public procurement in the EU to make competition fairer and support innovative European companies in the absence of a global level-playing field.
Find more information about the Affordable Energy Action Plan here and the Clean Industrial Deal here.