Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added(46) The Innovation Fund also provides a very promising and cost efficient avenue to support the scaling up of manufacturing and deployment of clean hydrogen and other net zero technologies in Europe, thus reinforcing Europe’s sovereignty in key technologies for climate action and energy security.

RemovedArticle 17 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new): (ca) the national strategy and targets that have been set for the capture of CO2 by 2030, 2035, 2040 and 2050.

Added(47) A European Sovereignty Fund would provide a structural answer to the investment needs. It will help preserving a European edge on critical and emerging technologies relevant to the green and digital transitions, including net-zero technologies. This structural instrument will build on experience of coordinated multi-country projects under the IPCEIs and seek to enhance all Member States’ access to such projects, thereby safeguarding cohesion and the Single Market against risks caused by unequal availability of State Aids. The [STEP Regulation] can be considered to be a step towards the establishment of a European Sovereignty Fund that could contribute to shaping and strengthening a European industrial policy by providing increased funding to European industry in the MFF after 2027.

RemovedArticle 17 – paragraph 2 – point c b (new): (cb) the arrangements, including bilateral agreements made to facilitate cross-border transportation of CO2, made to ensure that entities capturing CO2 have access to a safe and non- discriminatory means of transporting CO2.

Added(48) To overcome the limitations of the current fragmented public and private investments efforts, facilitate integration and return on investment, the Commission, and Member States should better coordinate and create synergies between the existing funding programmes at Union and national level as well as ensure better coordination and collaboration with industry and key private sector stakeholders. The Net-Zero Europe Platform has a key role to play to build a comprehensive view of available and relevant funding opportunities and to discuss and coordinate support for the individual financing needs of net- zero strategic projects. The projects for discussion should be those brought forward by a Member State or by the Commission.

RemovedArticle 17 a (new): Article 17a / CO2 transport infrastructure / 1. In order to facilitate the achievement of the objective set out in Article 16, the Union and its Member States in partnership with the companies benefitting shall invest in the needed CO2 transport infrastructure, including cross-border infrastructure. / 2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that potential users of storage sites are able to obtain access to CO2 transport networks and to storage sites for the purposes of geological storage of the produced and captured CO2 / 3. By 6 months from the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission and Member States shall draw up a common strategy to finance the infrastructure referred to in paragraph 1. The strategy referred to in paragraph 3 shall be reviewed at least every two years.

Added(49) In order for net-zero technology manufacturing projects and for net-zero strategic projects, to be deployed or expanded as quickly as possible to contribute to the Union’s security of supply for net-zero technologies, it is important to create planning and investment certainty by keeping the administrative burden on project promoters to a minimum without compromising on the environmental and social standards of the Union. For that reason, permit-granting processes of the Member States for net zero technology manufacturing projects andfor net-zero strategic projects, should be streamlined, whilst at the same time ensuring that such projects are safe, secure, environmentally performant, and comply with environmental, social and safety requirements. Union environmental legislation sets common conditions for the process and content of national permit- granting processes, thereby ensuring a high level of environmental protection. ▌.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Within six months of the entry into force of the Regulation, the Commission shall publish guidelines indicating the maximum levels of CO2 purity and of trace elements within the flow that may be specified by an entity seeking to have a CO2 storage project confirmed as contributing to the Union's injection capacity objective.

Added(50) At the same time, the unpredictability, complexity and at times, excessive length of national permit- granting processes undermines the investment security needed for the effective development of net-zero technology manufacturing projects. Therefore, in order to ensure and speed up their effective implementation, Member States should apply streamlined and predictable permitting procedures. In addition, net-zero strategic projects should be given priority status at national level to ensure rapid administrative treatment and urgent treatment in all judicial and dispute resolution procedures relating to them ▌ Furthermore, Member States should consider policy innovation in this field. In order to ensure that net-zero strategic projects can be treated with priority, Member States should ensure that the competent authorities are adequately equipped and staffed.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 5 – point c a (new): (ca) detail the specifications relating to the CO2 purity required, which the Commission shall approve or reject after assessing the requirements for safe operation and the need not otherwise to restrict injection of CO2 which will otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Added(51) Given their role in ensuring the Union’s security of supply for net-zero technologies, and their contribution to the Union’s open strategic autonomy and the green and digital transition, responsible permitting authorities should consider net-zero strategic projects to be in the public interest. Based on its case-by-case assessment, a responsible permitting authority may conclude that the public interest served by the project overrides the public interests related to nature and environmental protection and that consequently the project may be authorised, provided that all relevant conditions set out in Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directive 92/43/EEC and Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 6: 6. Two years after the entry into force of the Regulation and every year thereafter, the entities referred to in paragraph 1 shall submit a report to the Competent Authority of the Member States and the Commission detailing their progress towards meeting their contribution. The report will include an overview of the economic feasibility of planned injection capacities. The Commission shall make these reports public.

Added(52) In order to reduce complexity and increase efficiency and transparency, project promoters of net-zero technologies manufacturing projects, including of net-zero strategic projects, should be able to interact with a single national authority responsible for coordinating the entire permit granting process and issuing a comprehensive decision within the applicable time limit. To that end, Member States should designate or set up a single competent authority (designated authority). Depending on a Member State’s internal organisation, it should be possible for the tasks of the ▌competent authority to be delegated to a different authority, subject to the same conditions. In order to guarantee the high level of scrutiny along the permitting process, and to ensure the effective implementation of their responsibilities, Member States should provide their ▌ competent authority, or any authority acting on their behalf, with sufficient personnel and resources.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. The Commission shall assess the compliance of the entities referred to in paragraph 1 with the requirements of this Chapter. In this assessment the Commission shall take into account the development of CO2 transport modalities to the injection sites as well as the development of carbon capture activities to produce the demand for CO2 injection. If either or both infrastructure and capture activities are lacking, the Commission may reduce the injection obligation of a specific entity for a specific year. Any reduction shall be recovered in within 5 years after the reduction took place.

Added(52a) Member States should be responsible for the selection of Net-Zero Strategic Projects in order to allow strategic considerations, particularly when it comes to the implementation of the NECPs. However, to ensure that the projects also serve the common Union interest, including the Union’s budgetary interests, the Commission should have the authority to object to a decision by a Member State to designate a project as Strategic Project. Where the Commission object to a designation, the project should be brought to the Net-Zero Europe Platform. The Net-Zero Europe Platform should take the final decision on the status of the project.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 7 – point b a (new): (ba) Sanctions and penalties that may be applied to authorised oil and gas producers that fail to comply with the requirements of this Regulation.

Added(53) In order to ensure clarity about the permitting status of net-zero technology manufacturing projects and net-zero strategic projects and to limit the effectiveness of potential abusive litigation, while not undermining effective judicial review, Member States should ensure that any dispute concerning permit granting process is resolved in a timely manner. To that end, national competent authorities should ensure that applicants and project promoters have access to a simple dispute settlement procedure and that those projects are granted urgent treatment in all judicial and dispute resolution procedures relating to them while ensuring respect for the rights of defense.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 1: 1. Contracting authorities or contracting entities shall base the award of contracts for net-zero technology in a public procurement procedure on the most economically advantageous tender, which shall include the best price-quality ratio, comprising at least the sustainability and resilience contribution of the tender, in compliance with Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, or 2014/25/EU and applicable sectoral legislation, as well as with the Union’s international commitments, including the GPA and other international agreements by which the Union is bound.

Added(54) In order to allow businesses and project promoters, including for cross-border projects, to directly enjoy the benefits of the internal market without incurring an unnecessary additional administrative burden, Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council provides for general rules for the online provision of procedures relevant for the functioning of the internal market. The information that needs to be submitted to national competent authorities as part of the permit-granting processes covered by this Regulation are to be covered in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 following its amendment by this Regulation, and the related procedures are included in its Annex II so as to ensure that project promoters can benefit from fully online procedures and the Once-Only Technical System. ▌Designated authorities acting as one stop shop pursuant to this Regulation are included in the list of assistance and problem-solving services in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724.

RemovedArticle 21 – paragraph 1: 1. Without prejudice to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty and Article 4 of Directive 2018/200173 and in line with the Union’s international commitments, when deciding to set up schemes benefitting households or consumers which incentivise the purchase of net-zero technology final products, Member States, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law or associations formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such bodies governed by public law, shall design them in such a way as to promote the purchase by beneficiaries of net-zero technology final products with a high sustainability and resilience contribution as referred in Article 19(2), by providing additional proportionate financial compensation.

Added(55) Net-zero technology manufacturing projects undergo lengthy and complex permitting procedures of 2-7 years, depending on the Member State, technology and value chain segment. Considering the size of required investments – in particular for gigafactory- size projects which are needed to reach the expected economies of scale – inadequate permitting creates an additional and often detrimental barrier to increase net-zero technology manufacturing capacity in the Union. In order to provide project promoters and other investors with the security and clarity needed to increase development of net-zero technologies manufacturing projects, Member States should ensure that the permit-granting process related to such projects does not exceed pre-set time limits. For Net-Zero Strategic Projects, the length of the permit-granting process should not exceed 9 months for facilities with a yearly production output of more than 1 GW, and 6 months for those with a yearly production output of less than 1 GW. For ▌net-zero technology manufacturing projects, the length of the permit-granting process should not exceed 12 months for facilities with a yearly production output of more than 1 GW, and 9 months for those with a yearly production output of less than 1 GW. For net-zero technologies for which the GW metric is not relevant, such as grids and ▌CCS ▌ or ▌CCU ▌ technologies, the upper limits of the aforementioned deadlines should apply. For the expansion of existing production lines, each of the aforementioned time limits should be halved.

RemovedArticle 22 – paragraph 2: 2. The Commission shall make available and regularly update a list of all net-zero technology final products, components, materials and machinery, broken down by the share of Union supply originating in different third countries in the last year for which data is available.

Added(56) In addition, given the importance of net zero technology manufacturing projects and net-zero strategic projects for the Union’s energy supply certain administrative restrictions should be partly lifted or simplified to speed up their implementation.

RemovedChapter VI – title: Innovation and Competitiveness

Added(57) The environmental assessments and authorisations required under Union law, including in relation to water, air, ecosystems, habitats, biodiversity and birds, are an integral part of the permit granting procedure for a net zero technologies manufacturing project and an essential safeguard to ensure negative environmental impacts are prevented or minimised. However, to ensure that permit granting procedures for net zero technologies manufacturing projects are predictable and timely, any potential to streamline the required assessments and authorisations while not lowering the level of environmental protection should be realised. In that regard, it should be ensured that the necessary assessments are bundled to prevent unnecessary overlap and it should be ensured that project promoters and responsible authorities explicitly agree on the scope of the bundled assessment before the assessment is carried out to prevent unnecessary follow-up.

RemovedChapter VI – section I (new): Section I / Innovation

Added(58) Land use conflicts can create barriers to the deployment of net zero technologies manufacturing projects. Well-designed plans, including spatial plans and zoning, that take into account the potential for implementing net-zero technologies manufacturing projects and whose potential environmental impacts are assessed, have the potential to help balance public goods and interests, decreasing the potential for conflict and accelerating the sustainable deployment of net-zero technologies manufacturing projects in the Union. Responsible national, regional and local authorities should therefore consider the inclusion of provisions for net-zero technologies manufacturing projects when developing relevant plans.

RemovedArticle -26 (new): Article -26 / Innovation for competitiveness and decarbonisation / The measures in this Section shall aim to accelerate innovation in energy technologies within the Union, in order to accelerate the deployment of those technologies to foster the Union’s decarbonisation efforts as well as to increase the global competitiveness of the Union’s net-zero industry with the view of increasing the export of those technologies.

Added(59) Space data and services derived from EU Space Programme, and in particular Copernicus, shall be used to the extent possible to provide information on the geology, biology, ecology, socio-economic development, and resource availability for the environmental assessments and authorisations; such data and services and in particular the Copernicus anthropogenic CO2 emission monitoring and verification capacity are most relevant to assess the impact of industry projects and the impact of anthropogenic CO2 sinks on the global greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes.

RemovedArticle -26 a (new): Article -26a / Strategic Energy Technology Plan / 1. With the objective of ensuring a focus on and coordination between different funding schemes and sources, at Union, national and sub-national level and to support the development of climate-neutral energy technologies as well as of ensuring strategic alignment on priorities for research, innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies, the Union shall have a Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan). / 2. The SET Plan shall identify the energy technologies which are of strategic importance for the Union, taking into account their contribution to the Union’s climate-neutrality objectives as well as to the Union’s industrial competitiveness, and which require research and innovation activities to reach the maturity needed for full scale deployment. / 3. The SET Plan Board referred to in Article -26b shall be responsible for the establishment and implementation of the SET Plan. For the purposes of this Regulation, the Commission shall adopt the list of technologies identified in the SET Plan by means of an implementing act in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(3). / 4. Under the authority of the SET Plan Board and with deep involvement of the relevant sectors, including the research sector, research and innovation agendas shall be developed for each of the energy technologies identified in the SET Plan. Those agendas shall be the basis for coordination between the Union and the Member …

Added(60) The Commission should, as provided in Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, request one or more European standardisation organisation to draft European standards in support of the objectives of this Regulation.

RemovedArticle -26 b (new): Article -26b / SET Plan Board / 1. For the development and implementation of the SET Plan a SET Plan Board will be set up by the European Commission. The SET Plan Board shall be responsible for the strategic direction as well as general decisions, including the decision on the technologies to be included, on the SET Plan and its implementation. / 2. The SET Plan Board shall be composed Member States and of the Commission. It shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission. It shall include structural and permanent involvement of industry and research actors. / 3. Each Member State shall appoint a high-level representative to the SET Plan Board. Where relevant as regards the function and expertise, a Member State may have more than one representative in relation to different tasks related to the work of the SET Plan Board. Each member of the SET Plan Board shall have an alternate. / 4. On a proposal by the Commission, the SET Plan Board shall adopt its rules of procedure by a simple majority of its members. / 5. The SET Plan Board shall meet at regular intervals to ensure the effective performance of its tasks specified in this Regulation. Where necessary, the SET Plan Board shall meet at the reasoned request of the Commission or a simple majority of its members. / 6. The Commission shall assist the SET Plan Board by means of an executive secretariat that provides technical and logistic support. / 7. The SET Plan Board may establish standing or temporary sub-groups deal…

Added(61) Hydrogen Valleys with industrial end-use applications play an important role in decarbonising the energy-intensive industries. REPowerEU set the objective of doubling the number of Hydrogen Valleys in the Union. In order to achieve this objective, Member States should accelerate permitting and consider regulatory sandboxes and prioritise access to funding. To strengthen the net zero resilience, Member States should ensure the interconnection of Hydrogen Valleys across the Union’s borders. Industrial installations which produce their own energy, and which can provide a positive contribution to the production of electricity, should be encouraged to contribute to the smart electricity grid as energy producers by simplifying regulatory requirements.

RemovedChapter VI – section II (new): Section II / Competitiveness

Added(62) Net-zero regulatory sandboxes can be an important tool to promote innovation in the field of net-zero technologies and regulatory learning. Innovation needs to be enabled through experimentation spaces as scientific outcomes need to be tested in a controlled real-word environment. Regulatory sandboxes should be introduced to test innovative net-zero technologies and other innovative technologies in a controlled environment for a limited amount of time It is appropriate to strike a balance between legal certainty for participants in the Net-Zero regulatory sandboxes and the achievement of the objectives of Union law. As Net-Zero regulatory sandboxes must in any case comply with the essential requirements on Net-Zero technology laid out in Union and national law, it is appropriate to provide that participants , who comply with the eligibility requirements for Net-Zero regulatory sandboxes and who follow, in good faith, the guidance provided by the competent authorities and the terms and conditions of the plan agreed with those authorities, are not subject to any administrative fines or penalties. This is justified as the safeguards in place will, in principle, ensure effective compliance with Union or Member State law on the Net-Zero technology supervised in the regulatory sandboxes. The Commission will publish a Guidance for Sandboxes document in 2023 as announced in the New European Innovation Agenda to support Member States in preparing the net zero technology sandboxes. Those innovative technologies could eventually be essential to achieve the Union’s climate neutrality objective, ensure the security of supply and resilience of the Union’s energy system, and consequently enter the scope of ▌net-zero technologies.

RemovedArticle 26 a (new): Article 26a / Streamlining regulatory and administrative burdens / 1. Without prejudice to its social and environmental standards, the Union shall reduce the regulatory and administrative burdens for industrial activities within its territory. / 2. In view of the objectives of this Regulation, the Union shall meet the following reduction objectives by 2030: / (a) a 20% reduction of the general regulatory burden on industry; / (b) a 40% reduction of the regulatory burden for placing a new product on the internal market; / (c) a 40% reduction of the administrative burden for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises / 3. The reduction objectives referred to in paragraph 2 shall be measured in terms of the reduction of the cost of doing business in the Union. / 4. The expert group referred to in Article 29(7a) shall provide recommendations to the Commission in order to achieve the objectives referred to in paragraph 2.

Added(63) An overall benchmark and indicative objectives for the manufacturing of key net-zero technology products in the European Union are put forward in order to improve the Union’s industrial global competitiveness as well as to help tackle import dependency and vulnerability concerns and ensure the Union’s climate and energy targets are met.

RemovedArticle 26 b (new): Article 26b / Innovation Principle / 1. The Union shall create a regulatory environment for the internal market which enables innovation. / 2. In order to achieve the objective referred to in paragraph 1, when preparing new legal acts or amendments to existing legal acts, the Commission shall analyse the potential negative impact of the legal act on developing and bringing to the market new innovations. If such a negative impact is identified, an exemption clause shall be included in the legislative proposals, which addresses the negative impact and ensures that innovation is unhindered by undue regulatory restrictions.

Added(64) One of the main objectives of Union’s industrial policy is to enable the green and digital transitions while preserving the sustainable growth and competitiveness of the Union, maintaining quality jobs and strengthening its ability to innovate and produce, particularly with regard to clean technologies. The scaling up of European net-zero technology industries as well as ensuring Union’s open strategic autonomy require significant additional skilled workers which implies important investment needs in re-skilling and upskilling, including in the field of vocational education and training. More specifically, the energy transition will require a significant increase in the number of skilled workers in a range of sectors, including renewable energy and energy storage, grid technologies, battery production as well as IT or Smart solutions for energy system optimization and management, and other industrial decarbonisation technologies. According to studies, the circular economy could contribute to the creation of around 700 000 jobs in the Union alone by 2030. It is therefore of utmost importance to make jobs in net zero technologies attractive and accessible, especially technical careers including through Union information campaigns to promote technical and vocational education, as well as jobs related to circular economy, resource management and industrial transformation and decarbonisation in general. Furthermore, it is necessary to tackle the current mismatch between the skills of Union workers and the needs of companies. The skill needs for the fuel cell hydrogen sub-sector in manufacturing alone are estimated at 180.000 trained workers, technicians and engineers by the year 2030, according to the Commission’s European Strategic Energy Technology Plan . In the photo-voltaic solar energy sector, up to 66.000 jobs would be needed in manufacturing alone. In addition, the absence of educational programmes that promote skills necessary for net zero technologies, which also cause a scarcity of skilled employees and a lack of understanding within local administration in certain regions of the Union, could create a significant bottleneck for sustainable industrial development.

RemovedArticle 26 c (new): Article 26c / Transition Pathways / 1. With the objective of providing specific support for the needs of specific industrial ecosystems, the Commission shall identify the most important industrial ecosystems in the Union and shall develop Transition Pathways for them. / 2. Transition Pathways shall identify the scale, cost, long term benefits and conditions of the required action to accompany the twin transition of a specific ecosystem. They shall identify the innovation needs, the investment needs and the implementation bottlenecks, as well as concrete plans to address those needs and bottlenecks, with a view to establishing an actionable plan in favour of sustainable competitiveness. / 3. By 31 December 2024, the Commission shall revise the existing Transition Pathways to reflect the objectives of this Regulation. The Commission shall review and, if necessary, revise the Transition Pathways by ... [three years after the date of entry into force of this Regulation] and every three years thereafter. This revision could also include the inclusion of Transition Pathways for new ecosystems or the termination of existing Transition Pathways.

Added(65) Since strengthening the manufacturing capacity of key net-zero technologies in the Union will not be possible without a sizeable skilled workforce, it is necessary to introduce measures to boost the integration of more people to the labour market, and to make the industries and the technical careers concerned by this Regulation more attractive, especially to women as the gender balance is far from being reached in technology-oriented professions, and to young people including via skills first approaches as a complement to qualifications-based recruitment. In addition, workers from third countries should also be targeted as the Union only attracts a small share of qualified migrants. In addition, in line with the objectives of the Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate-neutrality, specific support for job-to-job transition and with a view of favouring lifelong learning and training for workers in redundant and declining sectors are important. This means investing in skills for all, while, at the same time, having a targeted approach towards vulnerable groups. This includes groups of people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs), legally residing migrant workers as well as people who are excluded from the labour market, have limited access to training opportunities or are in jobs, which are either at risk of disappearing or whose content and tasks are being highly transformed by new technologies, especially in regions affected by the impacts of the transition towards the Union's 2030 targets pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and the Council and Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. The end objective should be the creation of quality job required for net-zero technologies in the Union in line with the targets for employment and training of the European Pillar of Social Rights, including fair and adequate wages, improving living and working conditions pursuant to Directive (EU)2022/2041 of the European Parliament and of the Council, access to social protection, lifelong learning opportunities, good working conditions in safe and healthy workplaces, as well as collective bargaining rights. In fact, upskilling and reskilling are important tools but do not guarantee quality jobs. Labour shortages might also be the result of low wages, unattractive jobs, poor working conditions, and a lack of investment in vocational education and training (VET). Addressing these issues and improving job quality in sectors and companies with poor working conditions are also important elements to attract workers and address the issue of brain drain which results in growing inequalities between regions, unequal development as well as unequal capacity to drive innovation and create quality jobs. Building on and fully taking into account existing initiatives such as the EU Pact for Skills, EU level activities on skills intelligence and forecasting, such as by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Eurofound, and the European Labour Authority and the Blueprints for sectoral cooperation on skills, the objective is to mobilise all actors: Member States authorities, including at regional and local levels, education and training providers including universities, research universities, universities of applied science and university alliances, as well as social partners and industry, SMEs, start-ups, and social enterprises to identify skills needs, develop education and training programmes and deploy these at large scale in a fast and operational manner. Net-zero strategic projects have a key role to play in this regard. Member States and the Commission should ensure financial support to deploy their impact and outreach by leveraging the possibilities of the Union budget through instruments such as the European Social Fund Plus, InvestEU, Just Transition Fund, European Regional Development Funds, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Modernisation Fund, REPowerEU and the Single Market Programme.

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. By ... [6 months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation] and every five years thereafter, the European Commission shall appoint an SME Envoy as an adviser to its President. The SME Envoy shall have a mandate to ensure that the interests of small and medium enterprises are sufficiently reflected the Union's policies and legal acts.

Added(66) Building on local and regional initiatives and on previous experiences, such as hubs for skills development,the EU Pact for Skills and the European Battery Alliance, or the Offshore Renewable Energy Alliance, the European Net-Zero Industry Academies, which are a network of relevant experts (Academies), should develop and deploy education and training content to upskill and reskill workers required for key net-zero technology value chains, such as solar photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies, marine renewable energy, renewable hydrogen technologies and raw materials, and CCU. The scope and number of the Academies should be determined by the Commission and the Member States in the framework of the Net-Zero Platform on the basis of existing and objective studies in line with the principle of technological neutrality as well as based on a mapping exercise of current and forecasted needs in net-zero industries, including in regions in transition. Such a mapping exercise should provide information about current and upcoming skills shortages in key net-zero industries across the Union and how training opportunities are provided in such industries. The mapping exercise should also analyse the root cause of skills and labour shortages in particular related to the quality of the job offer in net-zero industries such as by assessing the working conditions and the coverage of collective bargaining. Additionally, based on the results of the mapping exercise and existing studies and in consultation with the Net-Zero Europe Platform, the Commission should issue a call for proposals to launch an academy in a given technology when a critical level of skills shortage in relation to a net zero technology is identified (Academy). Union’s seed-funding should be made available to set up the Academies and allow their functioning in view of becoming financially sustainable three years after their establishment by receiving financial contributions from the private sector. A strong governance is needed to make the Academies operational as fast as possible in order to develop training programmes in net zero technologies. This should be done without prejudice to the determining role that social partners and universities can also play in the creation of such Academies ,as in the case in the Battery Alliance. The role of international and interdisciplinary university alliances, such as Transform4Europe, should in particular be considered to achieve more unified and common standards in training and reskilling or upskilling activities. In general, the use of already existing research and teaching infrastructures should also be prioritised.

RemovedArticle 28 – paragraph 3: 3. The Platform may advise and assist the Commission and Member States in relation to their actions to reach the objectives outlined in Chapters I, taking into account Member States’ national energy and climate plans submitted under Regulation (EU) 2018/199975, and VI of this Regulation.

Added(66a) One of the aims of the Academies should be to contribute to the Union’s re-industrialisation and decarbonisation as well as to its open strategic autonomy. The Academies should also address the need for net zero technologies with high social and climate standards that are produced in the Union. The Academies should be established by 31 December 2024 and should provide learning content in as many of the languages of the Union institutions as possible, with the aim of achieving geographical balance across Member States. By 31 December 2025, they should start disseminating initial learning content to relevant education and training providers in Member States, such as universities, research universities, universities of applied sciences and university alliances, undertakings that provide such education and training, including SMEs, start-ups and social enterprises, social partners and by training trainers. The Academies should aim to enable the training and education of 100 000 learners each within three years of their establishment, taking the extent of the identified skills shortages into account which may result in a variation of the number of learners per Academy. The Academies should contribute to the availability of skills required for the net-zero technologies, including in SMEs. The learning content should take into account already existing learning programmes developed in the framework of the local Pact for Skills and the centres of professional excellence and should target all levels of education and qualification and all workers, including apprentices, along the value chain in the sectors concerned whereby all successive industrial phases are taken into account, from the design of the product (or the service), to the manufacturing phase, including the recycling and reuse of materials, whereby all the different professions across the value chain are considered. That content should also include learning modules with relevant information about health and safety at work for each specific technology as well as general relevant information on workers’ rights and working conditions, including on working time and workers’ rights to information and consultation. That content could, where relevant, be further adjusted to national law, applicable collective agreements and territorial and sectoral specificities by the education and training providers. The learning content should also target employees in national and local administrations (particularly responsible for permitting, impact assessment and regulations of new technologies), thus contributing to capacity building among national administrations and to a reduction of disparities among Member States.

RemovedArticle 28 – paragraph 5 a (new): 5a. The Net-Zero Europe Platform shall, on a regular basis and at least once a year, assess the global competitiveness of the industries within the scope of this Regulation and shall recommend actions to improve that competiveness.

Added(66b) Member States should use and deploy the learning content developed by the Academies in existing instruments such as in the reinforced Youth Guarantee whose one of its objectives is to provide education and training to NEETs, and in existing mentoring programmes. To ensure skills transparency and portability and the mobility of workers, and support the Member States in these efforts, the Academies will develop and deploy credentials, including micro-credentials, covering learning achievements. They should be issued in the format of European credentials for learning and could be integrated into the EUROPASS and, where relevant, included in National Qualifications Frameworks. Member States should be encouraged to use the content developed by the Academies for supporting the continuous reskilling and upskilling and the relevant education and training providers in their territories through national programmes and Union funding, including from the European Social Fund Plus, the reinforced Youth Guarantee, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, InvestEU the European Regional Development Fund, the Just Transition Mechanism, the Modernisation Fund and the Technical Support Instrument, and to support the integration of women in line with the European Strategy for Gender Equality in order to address educational and occupational gender stereotypes. The European network of employment services can play a significant role in using the learning content of training programmes delivered by the skills Academies in the creation and deployment of European occupation profiles and by providing information to national employment services about them.

RemovedArticle 29 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. The Board shall meet at least once every year with the SET Plan Board referred to in Article -26b.

Added(66c) The Net-Zero Europe Platform should assist in guiding the work of the Academies ensuring that their content addresses the skills shortages identified by the mapping exercise and providing oversight. Member States should ensure that the appointed national representative can act as a bridge between the relevant national ministries and competent authorities of the Member States as well as the national social partners and industry representatives. The Net-Zero Europe Platform should collect information on the progress made by the different Academies and produce by the end of 2026 an overview report on the deployment of the learning programmes, including the number of learners benefiting from the Academies’ programmes disaggregated by industrial sectors, gender, age, and levels of education and qualification.

RemovedArticle 29 – paragraph 7 a (new): 7a. The Platform shall establish a Net-Zero Industry Expert Group. / The Net-Zero Industry Expert Group will be composed of representatives of industrial sectors within the scope of this Regulation. / The Net-Zero Industry Expert Group will provide recommendations to the Platform, either on its own initiative or when requested by the Platform. / The Net-Zero Industry Expert Group shall facilitate interaction between the Platform and consultative or advisory bodies set up in the framework of the Union’s industrial policy.

Added(67) While in the absence of specific provisions introducing minimum training requirements for the access to a regulated profession or the pursuit thereof laid down in the Union law, it is a Member State’s competence to decide whether and how to regulate a profession, national rules organizing access to regulated professions must not constitute an unjustified or disproportionate obstacle to the exercise of those fundamental rights. The competence to regulate access to a profession must be exercised within the limits of the principles of non-discrimination and proportionality, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2018/958 of the European Parliament and of the Council ▌. In their assessment Member States should take into account any detrimental effects that regulation or professions may have on the availability of skills in the Net-Zero Industry and seek to limit the regulation in these fields to the maximum extent possible.

RemovedArticle 34 – paragraph 4 a (new): a. In the case of the implementing acts to be adopted under Article -26a where the Committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Added(68) Where the learning programmes developed by ▌Academies lead to credentials that would be of assistance including to persons seeking access to a profession that is regulated, Member States and employers should, in order to facilitate the mobility in strategic net-zero industry professions, accept these credentials as sufficient proof of the knowledge, skills and competences to which they attest.

RemovedAnnex I: deleted

Added(68a) The contribution of net-zero technologies to the decarbonisation objectives of the Union can materialise only when those technologies are deployed. Such a deployment, to an extent, is likely to happen in private households, but most decarbonisation is likely to come from decarbonising industrial processes. In order to ensure that investments for such decarbonisation take place in the Union, which is essential to secure good jobs and prosperity in the Union as well as for fulfilling the Union's decarbonisation objectives, it is crucial that it contributes to an improvement of the investment climate for industry in the Union.

Added(69) At Union level, a Net-Zero Europe Platform, should be established, composed of the Member States and of the European Parliament, and chaired by the Commission. The Net-Zero Europe Platform may advise and assist the Commission and Member States on specific questions and provide a reference body, in which the Commission and Member States coordinate their action and facilitate the exchange of information on issues relating to this Regulation. The Net-Zero Europe Platform should further perform the tasks outlined in the different Articles of this Regulation, notably in relation to permitting, including one-stop shops, Net-Zero Strategic Projects, coordination of and access to financing, access to markets and skills as well as regulatory sandboxes for innovative net-zero technologiesand other innovative technologies . Where necessary, the Net-Zero Europe Platform should be able to establish standing or temporary subgroups and invite third parties, such as experts or representatives from net-zero industries.

Added(70) As part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan the Commission announced its intention to conclude Net-Zero Industrial Partnerships covering net-zero technologies. Cooperation through such Parnerships is likely to promote the adoption of net-zero technologies globally,to support mutually reinforcing partnerships between the Union and third countries, including sustainable investments and technical assistance. Net-Zero Industrial Partnerships can also contribute to the diversification and resilience of the Union’s supply of net-zero technologies and their components, enhance information sharing between the Union and its partners on the development of net-zero technologies and support Union’s net-zero industries in accessing the global clean energy market, while supporting nascent industries in the field of clean energy technologies in third countries with clear comparative advantages. The Commission and Member States should coordinate within the Net-Zero Europe Platform the Partnerships, discussing existing relevant partnerships and processes, such as green partnerships, energy dialogues and other forms of existing bilateral contractual arrangements, as well as potential synergies with relevant Member States’ bilateral agreements with third countries. Agreements with third countries including Net-Zero Industrial Partnerships should reflect core Union values and objectives notably with regard to promoting labour and international environmental standards in those countries. Moreover, Net-Zero Industrial Partnerships should aim to contribute to the industrial transformation across the whole value chain of Union and third country undertakings while ensuring open markets and fair trade.

Added(71) The Union should aim to diversify international trade and investments in net-zero technologies forging mutual reinforcing partnerships, building on partners' own sustainable development plans, relevant environmental and human rights standards while promoting globally high social, labour and environmental standards. This should be done in close cooperation and partnership with like-minded countries by means of existing agreements or new strategic deals. Similarly, stronger international cooperation on research and innovation efforts to develop and deploy net-zero technologies should be pursued in close cooperation with partner countries in an open and balanced manner, with due regard to the Union’s strategic interests and needs .

Added(71a) In her 2023 State of the Union address, the Commission President announced that the Competitiveness Check will be conducted by an independent board. This work should be informed by an ongoing body of work regarding the regulatory burden created by Union and national law and its impact on competitiveness of Union’s industry, including net-zero industries. To facilitate that work, this Regulation establishes a European Scientific Advisory Board on Review and Regulatory Burden. The Advisory Board should develop science-informed advice on the impact of the regulatory burden in the Union, on the basis of individual cases.

Added(72) Where the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is delegated to the Commission under this Regulation, it is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.