News item | 08-02-2023 | 09:30
With European funds such as RePowerEU, InvestEUIt Innovation Fund and support through the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) tens of billions of euros in public investments will be available in the coming years for a stronger and cleaner economy. The government wants these resources to be used more quickly and wants companies to have easier access to them. There is now no immediate need to set up other specific EU funds on top of this. This is what Minister Micky Adriaansens writes on behalf of the cabinet in a letter to the House of Representatives about the EU proposal of 1 February 2023 for a so-called Green Deal Industrial Plan. The Netherlands has also submitted recommendations to the European Commission in a position paper.
Accelerated innovation with and application of green and digital (key) technologies, such as hydrogen, quantum, photonics and biorefining, is essential for the economic and climate objectives in the EU and the Netherlands. The government shares this European ambition, because this way companies remain competitive, the business climate is attractive and, moreover, dependence on countries outside the EU is reduced. Some of them have a strong raw material position or, like the United States, have decided to follow the example of the EU to significantly increase their public investments.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate): “Accelerating with sustainable and digital technologies is the way for entrepreneurs and researchers towards our future jobs and income. This does not happen automatically and, moreover, competition between the EU and other countries is increasing. The government therefore supports the path it has taken to provide extra support: where innovation is not yet sufficiently taken up by the market or where there is a threat of an uneven playing field. The Netherlands is also prepared to invest with public money itself. We do this, for example, with the National Growth Fund.”
The minister continues: “We must not allow ourselves to be distracted on the route to a green industry. The Netherlands therefore calls for all attention to ensure that European support has simple conditions and is available in as little fragmentation as possible. And to ensure that obtaining permits for support for, for example, making the industry more sustainable takes much less time. In this way we make the economic strength of the European market the strongest and we also stimulate private investments.”
Emphasis on own strength and strengthening EU internal market
The cabinet writes in it position paper that with a strong focus on increasing the speed of, for example, granting permits and easier access, the current EU support fits in perfectly with the major ambitions for a competitive, clean European economy, green infrastructure such as hydrogen transport and strengthening the internal market as a whole .
Additional resources and instruments, such as an EU proposal for support specifically for companies that indicate that they will otherwise leave the EU, may actually cause fragmentation in available funding and disrupt rather than reinforce the good starting position that the European market already has.