Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added(m) energy management technologies;

Added(n) high-efficiency industrial process and electrification technologies for energy and carbon intensive industries;

Added(o) biomaterials production technologies, including bio-based chemical production technologies;

Added(p) recycling technologies.

Added2. Within six months of the deadline for notification of each national energy and climate plans pursuant to Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and within six months of the deadline for the submission of each update of the updated national energy and climate plans pursuant to Article 14(2) of that Regulation, the Commission shall assess the list of net-zero technologies set out in paragraph 1 of this Article and may propose delegated acts, in accordance with Article 33 of this Regulation, amending that list in order to ensure that it reflects the technology needs stemming from the Member States’ national energy and climate plans.

Added1. By …[3 months from the date of entry into force of this Regulation], Member States shall designate or establish a single one competent authority (designated authority). The designated authority shall be responsible for facilitating and coordinating the permit-granting process for net-zero technology manufacturing projects ▌and to provide advice on reducing administrative burden in line with Article 5.

Added2. The designated authority ▌shall be the sole point of contact for the project promoter in the permit-granting process leading to a comprehensive decision for a given project and shall coordinate the submission of all relevant documents and information.

Added3. The responsibilities of the designated authority referred to in paragraph 1 or the tasks related to it may be delegated to, or carried out by, another authority, for any given project, provided that:

Added(a) the designated authority notifies the project promoter of that delegation;

Added(b) a single authority is responsible for each of the projects;

Added(c) a single authority coordinates the submission of all relevant documents and information.

Added4. Project promoters shall be allowed to submit any documents relevant to the permit-granting process in electronic form.

Added5. The designated authority shall take into consideration any valid studies conducted, and permits or authorisations issued, for a given project before the project entered the permit-granting process in accordance with this Article and shall not require duplicate studies and permits or authorisations, unless otherwise required under Union law.

Added6. The designated authority shall ensure that applicants have easy access to information on and simple procedures for the settlement of disputes concerning the permit-granting process and the issuance of permits to construct or expand projects, including, where applicable, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Added7. Member States shall ensure that the national authorities concerned and other competent authorities responsible for any step along the permit-granting processes, including all procedural steps, have a sufficient number of qualified staff and sufficient financial, technical and technological resources necessary, including for up- and re-skilling, for the effective performance of its tasks under this Regulation.

Added8. The Platform referred to in Article 28 and 29 shall periodically discuss the implementation of this Section and Articles 12 and 13 and share best-practices for organising national competent authorities and speeding up permitting procedures.

Added8a. Member States shall consider increasing direct support to the designated authority under national Recovery and Resilience Plans. The Commission shall provide technical support to the designated authority and Member States to carry out the permit-granting process.

Added8b. The designated authority shall specify and make available the detailed requirements and extent of information requested of a project promoter before the permit-granting process commences.

AddedMember States shall provide the following information on administrative processes relevant to net-zero technology manufacturing projects, including net zero strategic projects, online and in a centralised and easily accessible manner:

Added(a) the permit-granting process;

Added(a) financing and investment services;

Added(a) funding possibilities at Union and Member State level;

Addedbusiness support services, including but not limited to corporate tax declaration, local tax laws, labour law.

AddedAccelerating implementation

Added1. Member States and, where appropriate, the Commission shall undertake activities to accelerate and crowd-in public and private investments in net-zero technology manufacturing projects. Such activities may, without prejudice to Article 107 and Article 108 TFEU, include providing and coordinating support to net-zero technology manufacturing projects facing difficulties in accessing finance. The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that the support is provided to the project promoter within six months of the submission of the request of the net-zero technology manufacturing project.

Added2. Member States shall provide administrative and operational support to net-zero technology manufacturing projects located on their territory, to facilitate their rapid and effective implementation, paying particular attention to SMEs involved in the projects, including by providing:

Added(a) assistance to ensure compliance with applicable administrative and reporting obligations;

Added(b) assistance to project promoters to further increase the public acceptance of the project;

Added(c) assistance to project promoters along the permit-granting process, in particular for SMEs.

AddedIn addition to the support provided by the Member States, the Commission shall provide the net-zero strategic projects with support as referred to under points (a), (b) and (c).

AddedIn order to do so, Member States shall ensure that the relevant administrative bodies are adequately resourced and staffed to respond within the applicable time limits to future requests.

Added3. By 31 December 2024, the Commission shall propose to the European Parliament and to the Council a means of coordinating the various sources of public funding for net-zero technology manufacturing projects from the Union and the Member States with the objective of accelerating their deployment.

Added1. The permit-granting process for net-zero technology manufacturing projects shall not exceed any of the following time limits:

Added(a) 9 months for the construction of net-zero technology manufacturing projects with a yearly manufacturing capacity of less than 1 GW;

Added(b) 12 months for the construction of net-zero technology manufacturing projects, with a yearly manufacturing capacity of more than 1 GW.

Added2. For net-zero technology manufacturing projects for which a yearly manufacturing capacity is not measured in GW, the permit-granting process shall not exceed a time limit of 12 months.

Added3. For the expansion of manufacturing capacity in existing manufacturing facilities, the time limits referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 shall be halved.

Added4. In exceptional cases, where the nature, complexity, location or size of the proposed project so requires, competent authorities may extend the time limits referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 by a maximum of 1 month before their expiry and on a case-by-case basis.

AddedWhere competent authorities consider that the proposed project raises exceptional risks for the health and safety of workers or of the general population, and where additional time is necessary to establish that adequate safeguards are put in place, they may extend those time limits by a further 6 months, before their expiry and on a case-by-case basis.

Added5. In either such event, the designated authority shall inform the project promoter of the reasons for the extension and of the date when the comprehensive decision is expected in writing.

Added6. No later than one month following the receipt of the permit-granting application, competent authorities shall validate the application or, if the project promoter has not sent all the information required to process an application, request the project promoter to submit a complete application within fourteen days from that request. The date of the acknowledgement of initial receipt of the application by the national designated authority ▌shall serve as the start of the permit granting process.

Added7. No later than one month following the date of the acknowledgement of the validity of the application, the designated authority shall draw up, in close cooperation with the project promoter and other authorities concerned, a detailed schedule for the permit granting process. The schedule shall be published by the designated authority ▌on a free access website.

Added8. The time limits set in this Article shall be without prejudice to obligations arising from Union and international law, and without prejudice to administrative appeal procedures and judicial remedies before a court or tribunal.

Added9. The time limits set in this Article for any of the permit granting procedures shall be without prejudice to any shorter time limits set by Member States.

Added9a. The designated authority shall ensure that the lack of reply of the relevant administrative bodies within the applicable time limits referred to in this Article results in the specific intermediary steps to be considered as approved, except where the principle of administrative tacit approval does not exist in the national legal order. This paragraph shall also apply to final decisions on the outcome of the process. When a final decision on the outcome of the process is adopted on the basis of tacit approval, an explicit notice shall be sent to the project promoter within a week after the tacit approval came into effect. All decisions, including a notice of tacit approval, shall be made publicly available.

Added9b. In accordance with this Regulation, the Commission shall adopt guidelines to establish a minimum set of permit-granting requirements that Member States are to comply with regard to net-zero technology manufacturing projects, in particular to simplify the preparatory work for promoters submitting manufacturing projects, while facilitating the instruction of requests by administrations.

Added1. Where an environmental impact assessment must be carried out in accordance with Articles 5 to 9 of Directive 2011/92/EU, the project promoter concerned shall request an opinion to the competent authority referred to in Article 4 on the scope and level of detail of the information to be included in the environmental impact assessment report pursuant to Article 5(1) of that Directive. The national competent authority shall ensure that the opinion referred to in the first subparagraph is issued as soon as possible and within a period of time not exceeding 20 days without exception from the date on which the project promoter submitted its request, provided that this request includes all required documentation. Competent authorities shall provide a list of required documentation to the project promoter at the outset of their request, aim to streamline the process and guide the project promoter through the process.

Added2. Where the obligation to assess the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from Directive 2011/92/EU, Directive 92/43/EEC, Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, Directive 2000/60/EC, Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directive 2010/75/EU or Directive 2012/18/EU of the European Parliament and the Council, the national competent authority shall provide for coordinated or joint procedures fulfilling the requirements of that Union legislation.

AddedUnder the coordinated procedure referred to in the first subparagraph, the national competent authority shall coordinate the various individual assessments of the environmental impact of a particular project required by the applicable Union legislation.

AddedUnder the joint procedure referred to in the first subparagraph, the national competent authority shall provide for a single assessment of the environmental impact of a particular project required by the applicable Union legislation.

AddedThe application of the joint or coordinated procedure shall not affect the content of the environmental impact assessment.

Added3. The national competent authority shall ensure that the authorities concerned issue a reasoned conclusion as referred to in Article 1(2), point (g)(iv) of Directive 2011/92/EU on the environmental impact assessment within 80 days of receiving all necessary information gathered pursuant to Articles 5, 6 and 7 of that Directive, verifying its quality, and completing the consultations referred to in Articles 6 and 7 of that Directive.

Added3a In exceptional cases, where the nature, complexity, location or size of the proposed project so require, the national competent authority referred to in Article 8(1) may extend the time limits referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article by a maximum of 30 days, before their expiry and on a case-by-case basis. In that event, the national competent authority referred to in Article 8(1) shall inform the project promoter of the reasons justifying the extension and of the date when the reasoned conclusion is expected in writing.

Added4. The timeframes for consulting the public concerned on the environmental report referred to in Article 5(1) of Directive 2011/92/EU shall not be longer than 80 days and not be shorter than 40 days. In cases falling under the second sub-paragraph of Article 6(4), this period can be extended to a maximum of 90 days on a case-by-case basis. In that event, the national competent authority shall inform the project promoter of the reasons justifying the extension. Public consultation shall begin as soon as the file submitted by the project promoter is deemed to be complete by the competent administrative authority and be conducted in parallel to the assessment of the project request by the national competent authority, while complying with the requirements on consulting the public concerned set out in Directive 2011/92/EU and making the results of the public consultation available to the competent authority.

Added4a. Where a project would affect a designated Natura 2000 area, the environmental assessment shall be subject to the conditions set out in Directive 92/43/EEC.

Added4b The Member States shall ensure that their national competent authorities and other authorities pursuant to Article 6(1) of Directive 2011/92/EU are adequately equipped to fulfil its obligations under this Article.

Added1. When preparing plans, including zoning, spatial plans and land use plans, national, regional and local authorities shall, where appropriate, include in those plans provisions for the development of net-zero technology manufacturing projects, including net-zero strategic projects, as well as the necessary infrastructure and net-zero industry valleys. Priority shall be given to artificial and built surfaces, industrial sites, brownfield sites, and, where appropriate, greenfield sites not usable for agriculture and forestry. To facilitate the development of net-zero technology manufacturing projects, the Member States shall ensure that all relevant spatial planning data is available online in accordance with Article 5.

Added2. Where plans include provisions for the development of net-zero technology manufacturing projects, including net-zero strategic projects, and their required infrastructure, are subject to an assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC and pursuant to Article 6 of Directive 92/43/EEC, those assessments shall be combined. Where relevant, that combined assessment shall also address the impact on potentially affected water bodies and verify whether the specific projects under the plan could potentially prevent a water body from achieving good status or good potential or cause deterioration of status or of potential referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2000/60/EC or would potentially hamper that a water body achieves good status or good potential. Where relevant Member States are required to assess the impacts of existing and future activities on the marine environment, including land-sea interactions, as referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2014/89/EU, these impacts shall also be covered by the combined assessment. The fact that assessments are combined pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect their content or quality. Combined assessments shall be conducted in such a way that it does not lead to a prolongation of the time limits set out in this Regulation.

Added1. The provisions set out in this Regulation are without prejudice to the obligations under ▌of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed at Aarhus on 25 June 1998, and under the UNECE Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, signed at Espoo on 25 February 1991.

Added2. All decisions adopted pursuant to this Section and Articles 12, 13, 14 and 21 shall be made publicly available in an easily understandable manner, with all decisions concerning one project retrievable from a single source.