One year to reverse the decline of Europe: a call from business that can’t go unheeded

The Business Associations of the three biggest EU economies - BDI for Germany, Confindustria for Italy and MEDEF for France - have joined voices and publicly called for urgent implementation of policies to restore EU's growth and competitiveness, during the 6^th Trilateral Business Forum in Paris, on 22^nd of November 2024. In their joint call they paint a grim picture of the threat to Europe from the potential weakening of its industrial base and lack of investments and they call for urgent action.

FuelsEurope commends and strongly supports the need for the EU economy to "catch-up" with its strongest international competitors, strengthen its industrial assets and attract investments aiming at strategic autonomy. FuelsEurope also finds extremely appropriate that the time horizon for decisive policy actions takes places within one year.

We welcome the fact that the three Business Associations, identify technology neutrality as the first priority of their joint call, across all sectors, and a prerequisite for EU competitiveness. Technology-neutral approach to the energy transition is at the core of what FuelsEurope, representing the EU industry for fuels and products for the industrial value chain, have been consistently asking for years. Renewable, low-carbon fuels in particular should be given equal and fair treatment in regulations as well as in access to funding and support to decarbonise both transport and crucial industrial sectors. Decarbonisation of transport in particular, needs a plurality of solutions, and all kind of renewable fuels - side by side with electrification and other solutions - have a great potential to accelerate and make it more affordable to citizens and governments, for road, aviation and maritime transport.

FuelsEurope supports the review of ETS and CBAM, to ensure that the level-playing field in terms of cost of industrial CO₂ emissions is restored and does not penalise further the competitiveness of EU manufacturers.

The three Business Associations also call for urgently reducing the administrative and cost burden of the EU regulatory framework. Simplification and competitiveness check of existing legislation and new measures are necessary, as well as the reduction of compliance costs. FuelsEurope shares the concerns on the CSDDD and CSRD, and believes that further analysis and improvement of these directives is needed.

FuelsEurope is ready to contribute to the policy review with the European Commission and Member States to make recommendations to successfully implement the measures needed to ensure the competitive future of the EU. FuelsEurope strongly believes that the fuel manufacturing industry has a crucial role in the proposed plan for decarbonisation and competitiveness, which is described in its "More than a Manifesto - An Offer for Europe" published in May 2024, outlining our contribution to make the EU more resilient, sustainable and competitive.