Advancing Europe’s Industrial Competitiveness and Resilience

🔗 Here's the full publication 👉 epico.org/en/publicati...

📄 Our new paper shows the way forward as IAA negotiations begin 👇

📌 Stronger procurement quotas
📌 Clear EU origin rules
📌 Better alignment of low-carbon & EU content criteria
📌 Strategic “Industrial Acceleration Areas”
📌 Stronger lead markets under ESPR

a black and white photo of smoke coming out of a factory ALT: a black and white photo of smoke coming out of a factory

⏳ The urgency is hard to ignore.

European industry still faces:
– weak demand for low-carbon products
– high production costs
– limited economies of scale

The March European Council sent a clear signal 📢

The Industrial Accelerator Act is now a political priority — with a 2026 deadline.

Competitiveness is taking centre stage. Delivery is the real test now.

🧵 What this means for the EU industry 👇

A key piece of Europe’s industrial policy puzzle has landed 🇪🇺

The #IAA is a step forward, linking decarbonisation & competitiveness 🤝

🤔But postponed lead markets, weak procurement quotas & unclear EU content rules risk limiting impact.

Europe can’t afford more uncertainty while others race ahead.

🎉 5 years of EPICO – #FromIdeastoImpact!

From ambition to delivery, we turn climate neutrality into investable, implementable, politically resilient action.

Thanks to all partners driving European decarbonisation with us! 🤝✨

The EU ETS 2 at the Crossroads: Evaluating Reform Options

Read EPICO's study, in collaboration with Frontier Economics, outlining a targeted reform strategy to ensure the fair and effective implementation of ETS 2, including revenue frontloading. 👉 epico.org/en/defending...

🚨 Big step from the @eib.org: €3 billion approved for #ETS2 pre-financing via the Frontloading Facility.
A positive signal, but it's just the baseline.

Frontloading is the life insurance for ETS 2’s start in 2028, but only if it is scaled and strategically used.

Kirsten Scholl Director for EU Affairs

You can read more about Kirsten's work here 👉 epico.org/en/about-us/...

Big news in Brussels: we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kirsten Scholl as our new Director for EU Affairs! 🇪🇺

Kirsten brings +25 years of policy experience and is ready to strengthen our EU focus, advancing solutions that are politically viable, economically realistic & socially acceptable

Feeling proud! 🎉 Our CEO, Dr. Bernd Weber, made @table.media’s 100 most influential in climate!

Under Bernd’s leadership, EPICO has taken a leading role in the debates that matter, in Berlin & Brussels.

Congrats Bernd, we are excited to keep climate leadership high on the agenda with you! 👏🌱

Maximizing Scrap Potential: Why Tomorrow's Green Steel Starts with Today's Scrap

🚨New Green Steel dialogue out!

We chatted with VP of ORI Martin Giovanni Marioni to discuss the transformative role of scrap steel ♻️ and the challenges ahead, with an eye to global competition.🌍

Penned by our own Joen Martinsen, you can read the interview here👉 epico.org/en/newsroom/...

📺 Webinar: Wie gelingt ein #Industriestrompreis, der kurzfristige Entlastungen mit strukturellen Maßnahmen am #Strommarkt verbindet und die #Investitionssicherheit stärkt?

👉 Jetzt anmelden und mitdiskutieren: www.agora-energiewende.de/aktuelles/in...

European Carbon Management Dialogue: Cross-Border Infrastructure and Development in the North Sea Region

To get full access to all recommendations, here's the link!👉 🔗 epico.org/en/publicati...

Hear directly from our specialist and co-author Holly Attwell 👇

In the report, we outline how to unlock this potential:
🇪🇺 a pan-European CO₂ transport network;
💡 large-scale storage in the North Sea;
🤝 coordinated public-private investments;
🏭 sectoral pathways for hard-to-abate industries;

... and more!

Our new Policy Report is out! 📘

The North Sea, once Europe’s hub for oil and gas, now stands at the heart of the green transition. 🌊

With vast potential for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), it holds the key to a competitive and decarbonised industrial future. 🌱

The EU ETS 2 at the Crossroads: Evaluating Reform Options

Now, it's crucial to evaluate how the MSR can be strengthened, w/o undermining the ETS 2 cap-and-trade model & its climate effectiveness.💪

We unpacked these recommendations in our September Policy Report ➡️ epico.org/en/defending...

The Commission is acting early to boost price-stability and investment incentives, rather than scrambling to fix things later.

This marks its first counterproposal to Member States pushing for delay ✋❌.

🚨 The Commission is opting for a ‘soft landing’ on ETS 2 to secure acceptance.

@wopkehoekstra.ec.europa.eu announced measures tackling price concerns:
📊 Strengthening the MSR
💶 Earlier ETS 2 revenues (front-loading).

Both levers we proposed in our & Frontier Economics Report 📝.

The EU ETS 2 at the Crossroads: Evaluating Reform Options

Simon is also the co-author of our new study, which explores how to safeguard ETS 2 without watering it down.

Check out our full set of recommendations, including frontloading of revenues, here 👉 epico.org/en/defending...

ETS2 is at the centre of debate in Brussels, but rolling it back would weaken EU climate and competitiveness goals.❌

🎙️On The Jolt podcast, our own Industry Specialist Simon Munkler explains why frontloading funds is vital for fairness and trust.

🎧Listen here 👉 foresightmedia.com/story/svpcsb...

What Europe really needs is a proper green steel label:
✅ Science-based
✅ Circularity-friendly
✅ Legally sound
✅ Fair to all producers

Just like we trust food labels to guide better choices, we need the same for the steel shaping our future. 🏗️♻️🌍

Why doesn’t LESS work for long steel products like rebar and structural shapes? 👇

❗Worst of all: it could trigger more scrap exports and more carbon-intensive imports.

A textbook industrial own goal. ⚽🚫

Enter: the Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS) — a voluntary label promoted by coal-based steelmakers.

🎯The aim? Certify steel products based on their climate impact.
🚫The problem? LESS lacks a robust, science-based methodology.

Green steel labelling helps manufacturers, builders & public buyers choose climate-friendly materials and cut Scope 3 emissions.

But only if the label is clear, credible, and built on solid science.

EPICO has responded to the #IDAA consultation with a clear message:
#LESS does not work for long steel products.

Green steel labelling must be credible, science-based, and fair — not a shortcut that undermines Europe’s climate and industrial goals. 👇

📄 The first paper in our new Electrifying Energy-Intensive Industries series is out now: focused on the EU funding toolbox.

Read the full brief 👉 epico.org/en/publicati...

In our new brief, we call for 4 key EU actions:

1️⃣ Link funding to CO₂ intensity and resilience
2️⃣ Expand competitive auctions & blended finance
3️⃣ Target existing EU funds at clean industry
4️⃣ Use InvestEU to crowd-in private capital

⚡ Direct and indirect electrification - think renewables, heat pumps, e-boilers, and electrolysis - can slash emissions.

But costs remain high, tech still maturing, and infrastructure patchy. Unlocking this shift needs more than ambition: it needs smart, targeted support. 🔌