“WE NEED AN ENERGY UNION FOR AN INDEPENDENT EUROPE”

For our planet, the green transformation is imperative; we must preserve our natural resources. I see energy-intensive industries primarily responsible by leading by example. They emit the most carbon dioxide in their production processes and can therefore save the most CO2 with targeted measures, such as electrification or carbon capturing. Shutting down these industrial sectors is not an option. Products like steel, glass, or the many industrial and consumer goods based on chemicals are integral to our modern lives and are largely irreplaceable.

The steel industry is focusing on electrification, green energy, and circular economy in its transformation. Climate neutrality within 15 years is the goal. Currently, the ongoing transformation process of the industry is hampered by very high electricity prices. Including ancillary costs, we pay twice the European level in Germany. Average electricity prices across Europe are significantly higher than in America and Asia. The competitiveness of the industry is at risk, and electricity prices are consuming funds earmarked for investments. Urgent action is needed if we want to retain our industry in Europe and thereby secure our independence. Europe needs a stable energy economy with competitive electricity prices. Only then can we maintain independent and efficient key industries and return to consistent economic growth.

How can this goal be achieved? We must collaborate! We should stop vying for the best conditions and subsidies at the national level. The transformation is a common European task to remain competitive in the global market. We need accelerated expansion of renewable energy sources in places where the respective energy can be produced cost-effectively. This requires a common Europe-wide network that meets modern technological standards and delivers energy to businesses and consumers. Planning, building and expanding this network together, including for the transportation of hydrogen, is important and necessary.

Supplementing our infrastructure is also essential to ensure base-load capability: periods of low wind and solar generation can be better managed if we can draw from a Europe-wide coordinated network of fossil and nuclear supplementary energy, allowing us to balance energy peaks in one part of the European Union (EU) with surpluses in another. This would also contribute to a Europe-wide approach to developing and deploying storage capacity for renewable energies, making Europe more flexible in energy matters.

We need an energy price policy that benefits everyone in the EU and strengthens our competitiveness – not a German isolated solution. The goal must be to quickly, easily, and predictably initiate transformation projects and investments in renewable energies and hydrogen infrastructure with the necessary means. Approval procedures must also be harmonized and accelerated. Only then can we compete in the global competition of locations. We need to move away from the entrenched bureaucracy in the EU and find a more pragmatic approach to be able to compete with programs like the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA or state-sponsored projects in China. And finally: A functioning EU requires not only a common foreign and security policy but also a common infrastructure policy – this is evident in the energy issue. Only with an Energy Union can we manage the green transformation so that the European economy emerges stronger from it. Through our transformation, we will realize how much common market, agility, and true common sense are inherent in our European Union.