Industry

The Green Deal for Europe will become the new strategy for growth in the EU and sustainable industry is one of the Union’s top 9 policy areas. Its main objective is climate neutrality, so a key transformation of industry is expected. The new strategy will require a fundamental change in consumer behaviour and will bring a number of major challenges but also opportunities for industry, especially in the field of green technologies and digitalisation. As the industrial transformation will be differently challenging for Member States, the European Union will provide the necessary financial support and technical assistance to those countries and regions that will be most affected by the transition to a green economy. This is the Fair Transition Mechanism, which will contribute €100 billion over the next 7 years to the most affected regions. Following the Green Deal, the European Commission has published a New Industrial Strategy for a globally competitive, green and digital Europe. The new strategy is a package of measures setting out the path to a “double transformation” – green and digital.

Industry – a leader on the road to climate neutrality

The new Industrial Strategy for Europe represents a new approach to European industrial policy. For the transition to carbon neutrality to be successful, coherence is needed between industrial, environmental, climate and energy policies. The modernisation of industry will be strongly influenced by the green and digital transition and will be mainly based on green technologies. It is the development of green technologies that will fundamentally influence the shape of industrial transformation in the coming years.

The digital and green transition will be marked by innovation, bringing new products, business models and services to the market. The green transformation will affect all industrial sectors. The cross-sectoral aspect is reflected, for example, in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, which aims to make the circular principle the new norm. The transition will also be supported by new legislation to improve the energy efficiency of products.

Green cities aim to minimise local negative impacts on city residents (emissions, noise, waste) or the symbiosis of industry with other components of the urban environment. Industrial modernisation will bring the possibility of clean technology plants and high value products that will not burden cities. The green transformation of industry will provide innovative opportunities in sectors such as heating (processing of waste heat from industry) and transport (electromobility in cities). Investment in innovation is expected to create new jobs.