Europe Clean Industrial Deal to tackle permitting red tape | Europe – East

Europe wants to cut red tape and improve capital flows

Europe wants to cut red tape and improve capital flows

The European Commission will launch the Clean Industrial Deal in February in a bid to tackle permitting delays and red tape among hard-to-abate and new tech industries.

Speaking at Davos, Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, European Commission, said a major challenge is bridging climate action with competitiveness.

“One of the key things we need to do is further enhance our competitiveness and make sure that decarbonisation is a  growth strategy,” he said. “So that means focusing on two sectors. Firstly, heavy industry and difficult-to-abate, which is pivotal to the success of our continent, and as important, are the ‘new kids on the block’, the tech companies that have huge demand and are in dire need of shorter permitting periods and way less red tape, and making sure standardisation is being applied across member states.

“So what we will do, in the Clean Industrial Deal that will launch in a couple of weeks, is make sure we realise a step change for those two groups, and there is much more we will seek to announce. A second thing, and this is where Europe has a clear disadvantage currently compared with the US, is the ease with which capital is flowing, so if you’re an entrepreneur you’re in a completely different realm here – we need to make sure that we deliver on the promise that’s been there for years, which is the capital markets union [creating a single market for capital].