Building a New Sustainable Industry
As Europe is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and working to minimize the effects of the crisis on industry, European leaders emphasize the importance of putting sustainability at the heart of the path to recovery.
At the beginning of March, the COVID-19 pandemic reshuffled the priorities of European leaders. Many initiatives under the European Commission’s Green Deal, like the European Industrial Strategy, were deprioritized and temporarily put on hold. However, as the COVID-19 lockdown is slowly starting to ease, the EU is set on reinforcing its efforts to launch sustainability as the main driver for growth and to pursue its green ambitions.
The Support to the Industry
With € 3.4 trillion mobilized so far, the EU aims to keep the European financial system afloat and keep the European Industrial Strategy relevant. The package of measures includes:
A pan-European Guarantee Fund of € 25 billion, co-funded by the EIB Group. The fund will enable the Bank to increase its support to SMEs, mid-caps and corporates by mobilizing up to € 200 billion.
The Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) instrument, that will provide financial assistance to Member States, of up to €100 billion in total. SURE will cover part of the costs related to the creation or extension of national short time work schemes.
The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+) are to provide Member States with immediate liquidity. The instruments will respond to the rapidly emerging needs in the most exposed sectors, including SMEs and the labour market.
A European Industrial Recovery Plan, that is still under discussion and would introduce a Marshall Plan to restart Europe’s economy.
Building Anew in Green
Representatives from both the European Commission and the European Parliament call for sustainability to be at the heart of the recovery:
European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans supports qualitative growth, replacing the old and polluting infrastructure by investing in renewable energies and clean technologies.
Member of Parliament and ENVI Committee’s Chair Pascal Canfin launched a petition to build a European alliance for a green recovery. How? With Green Recovery Investment Packages, to supply the European economy with the means to overcome the crisis without hurting the green transition.
What comes next? Now more than ever, there is an urgency for togetherness: for enterprises, industry federations, policymakers, and civil society organisations to collaborate and build a new, sustainable economy.
How? By giving the opportunity to companies and industry federations to join forces under a European Pact for Sustainable Industry.
The objective of this Pact is threefold:
Support companies and their industry federation in taking collective action for a Sustainable Europe 2030.
Embed sustainability into the strategy and business models of EU enterprises and their industry federations.
Dialogue and engage with European policymakers in support of the EU's Green Deal and the UN' Sustainable Development Goals.