Rapporteur Talks

In this thought leadership interview, Lucy Cronin, Vice President for EU Policy at Amazon, explores how private-sector investment can help close Europe’s €800 billion clean transition gap while supporting competitiveness. She highlights significant investments across renewable energy, electric transport, and sustainable packaging, illustrating how decarbonisation can generate jobs, strengthen supply chains, and boost economic growth.

The discussion emphasises the importance of policy support, including faster permitting, expanded charging infrastructure, and greater regulatory certainty, alongside closer industry collaboration. It suggests that, with the right framework, decarbonisation could increasingly become embedded in everyday economic activity, contributing to a more competitive and sustainable European economy by 2030.

In this interview, Sundeep Bajikar, Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Marketing at Applied Materials, discusses the evolving role of the semiconductor industry in enabling the next generation of AI technologies. He outlines how shifts beyond traditional scaling are reshaping innovation, with new materials, architectures and advanced packaging becoming critical to delivering performance gains while managing rising energy demands.
 
The conversation explores how increasing demand for compute is placing pressure on infrastructure and sustainability frameworks, as well as the need for stronger collaboration across the value chain. Bajikar also reflects on how industry, policymakers and energy stakeholders can align to support a resilient and efficient digital ecosystem. Watch the full interview for insights into the strategic priorities shaping AI and semiconductor innovation.

Europe is entering a new phase in the design of its social and economic policies, with renewed attention on inequality and living conditions. The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the European Affordable Housing Plan signal a stronger focus on social cohesion, while the implementation of key climate measures, including the extension of carbon pricing to buildings and transport (ETS2), is reshaping the policy landscape. Within this context, ensuring that the green transition is socially balanced has become an increasingly important consideration for policymakers.

Energy poverty sits at the intersection of these agendas. It affects a significant share of households and is closely linked to energy prices, housing quality and income levels. Recent geopolitical developments have contributed to energy market volatility, with impacts that tend to be more pronounced for vulnerable households, reinforcing existing social disparities. Addressing energy poverty is therefore not only a social challenge, but also a condition for maintaining public trust and acceptance of climate and energy policies.

Despite its relevance, energy poverty is currently addressed across multiple policy areas without a fully integrated approach. This raises concerns about fragmentation, particularly in the context of ETS2 implementation and the preparation of national Social Climate Plans, where progress across Member States remains uneven. A further challenge relates to data availability and comparability, as existing methodologies differ across countries and do not always allow for a clear identification of affected households, complicating evidence-based policymaking.

Some stakeholders argue that to ensure the energy transition is fair, just and inclusive requires a more systematic integration of energy poverty considerations across EU social, housing and energy policies. Strengthening coordination between existing instruments, improving data collection and monitoring, and sharing best practices across Member States could help deliver more targeted and effective support, while ensuring that the benefits of the transition are more broadly shared.

Listen to this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to discuss how energy poverty can be more systematically integrated into EU social, housing and climate policies, and how existing instruments can contribute to a more coherent and targeted response. Questions to be addressed include:

· How can energy poverty be better integrated across EU social, housing and energy policy frameworks?

· What role can ETS2 and the Social Climate Fund play in mitigating the social impacts of the energy transition?

· How can data collection and measurement of energy poverty be improved to support more effective policymaking?

· What lessons can be drawn from Member State experiences and best practices in addressing energy poverty?

Europe faces a defining economic challenge: how to strengthen competitiveness and industrial resilience while staying on course for decarbonisation.

As policymakers implement the EU’s competitiveness agenda – from the Competitiveness Compass to the Clean Industrial Deal and the evolving “Made in Europe” agenda – attention is increasingly turning to a critical question: how can Europe accelerate investment in the infrastructure needed to power both the green and digital transitions?

Affordable, reliable and sustainable energy, modern grids, electrified transport and stronger digital infrastructure are no longer climate issues alone – they are central to Europe’s economic future, industrial strategy and long-term resilience.

Yet significant barriers remain. Europe continues to face investment gaps in low-carbon technologies, power infrastructure and transport systems, while businesses seek greater regulatory clarity and faster deployment pathways.

How can Europe create the right conditions for investment at scale? What role should industry, policymakers and regulators play in accelerating delivery? And how can Europe turn decarbonisation into a competitive advantage?

Listen to this Euractiv Hybrid Conference bringing together senior policymakers, industry leaders and economists to explore how Europe can unlock investment, strengthen resilience and accelerate deployment across energy, transport and infrastructure. Key questions to be addressed include:

• How can clean technology investment strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and industrial base?
• What role should public-private collaboration play in scaling energy, transport and digital infrastructure?
• What regulatory barriers are slowing deployment – and where is simplification most needed?
• How can Europe ensure decarbonisation supports both economic growth and strategic resilience?

Europe’s ability to compete globally increasingly depends on how effectively it can develop, scale and deploy advanced technologies that drive productivity and long term growth. As competition intensifies in high technology sectors, EU policymakers and stakeholders are examining how Europe can convert strong research capabilities into commercially viable innovation, while ensuring that emerging technologies contribute to economic resilience and societal value.

Two key technology domains sit at the centre of Europe’s bid to strengthen its industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy: advanced connectivity and quantum technologies. European firms and standards bodies have played a decisive role in shaping global mobile standards from 3G to 5G, underpinning the digital economy. At the same time, quantum technologies are emerging as a critical next frontier, where Europe combines strong scientific excellence with a dynamic startup ecosystem, but continues to face challenges in scaling companies to a global level.

Quantum technologies provide a timely and high-profile context for this discussion. As they mature, questions around intellectual property, standardisation and licensing are becoming increasingly relevant. Early decisions on how interoperability, access to technology and fair licensing are handled may influence collaboration, competition and investment incentives. Experiences from more established, standards-based sectors, such as advanced connectivity, offer lessons that may inform the development of future quantum markets.

Listen to this Euractiv Conference to discuss Europe’s approach to competitiveness in emerging technologies, and the role that standards, policy and licensing frameworks can play in shaping innovation and market development. Using quantum technologies as a timely case study, the event will also highlight the findings of the new standards study. Questions to be addressed include:

· What role do standards play in supporting Europe’s competitiveness and emerging technologies such as quantum?

· What are the main barriers to scaling and commercialising quantum technologies in Europe?

· How can policy and market frameworks encourage innovation while ensuring interoperability, fair access and competition?

· What role could standardisation and licensing practices play in accelerating adoption and interoperability in quantum technologies?

 Euractiv Advocacy Lab's Industry Insights talks to Klaus Waechter, Vice-President, KNX Association – Global Standardisation Management, Siemens Smart Infrastructure to dive into the world of smart building automation designed to deliver scalable energy savings. Can smart building technologies help the EU's climate ambitions and bring it back on track with its energy efficiency targets? 

The construction sector plays a central role in the EU’s climate objectives. Buildings account for a significant share of Europe’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, while the embodied carbon of construction materials is gaining increasing attention in the EU. As Europe advances initiatives such as the European Affordable Housing Plan and the Circular Economy Act, questions are emerging about how construction practices can reduce emissions while remaining cost-effective, scalable and socially inclusive.

Against this backdrop, hybrid construction is receiving growing interest as an approach that combines different building materials according to their respective strengths. Rather than viewing materials as competing alternatives, hybrid construction explores how they can complement one another to optimise structural performance, resource efficiency and lifecycle impacts. In practice, this can involve combining elements or integrating materials within a single component, for example by pairing concrete’s compressive strength with the properties of engineered wood products.

Recent developments in offsite and industrialised construction have further expanded the potential of hybrid solutions. Hybrid elements can be lighter to transport, support faster assembly and open new possibilities for reuse and circular design. At the same time, the use of sustainably sourced wood products can contribute to long-term carbon storage in buildings, raising questions about how renewable materials and circular value chains are recognised within EU regulatory frameworks.

Discussions are increasingly focusing on the conditions needed to scale hybrid construction across Member States. These include harmonised standards, streamlined permitting processes, and clear methodologies for assessing environmental performance, reuse and carbon storage over a building’s lifecycle. A key consideration remains that hybrid solutions are compatible with fire safety, acoustics and sustainability requirements, particularly for multi-storey and public buildings.

Join this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to discuss the role of hybrid construction in Europe’s transition toward more circular, resource-efficient and climate-friendly buildings. Questions to be addressed include:

· How can EU policies better support the uptake of hybrid construction methods in line with climate and circular economy objectives?

· What role can standardisation and harmonised permitting play in removing barriers to the use of hybrid building elements across Member States?

· How should renewable materials and long-term carbon storage in buildings be accounted for within EU regulatory and reporting frameworks?

· How can hybrid construction, based on cooperation between different building materials, help address Europe’s housing shortage while enabling rapid, resource efficient and low carbon construction?

Panel 1: The EU Fertiliser Action Plan – Balancing affordability, resilience and transition
The Fertiliser Action Plan from the European Commission aims to address a complex policy triangle: ensuring affordability for farmers, strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy, and ensuring that European fertiliser producers are fit to transition to low-carbon fertiliser production. This panel will unpack how these objectives interact in practice.

Participants will discuss short-term measures, including support for farmers and enhanced collaboration across the value chain. At the same time, the discussion will explore enabling conditions to maintain and strengthen domestic production capacity, improve access to competitively priced energy and raw materials, and reinforce resilience against global market shocks.

A key focus will be the feasibility of scaling low-carbon and circular fertilisers, including through labelling and creating market incentives.

Key questions to be addressed:

-How to reconcile strategic autonomy, affordability for farmers and EU fertiliser industry competitiveness?
Can affordability and decarbonisation be achieved simultaneously?
-How can Europe strengthen fertiliser resilience without distorting markets?
-What enabling conditions are needed to boost investments in low-fertiliser production in Europe ?
-What role should value chain cooperation play in times of crisis?
-Are proposed lead markets sufficient to drive demand for low-carbon fertilisers?

Panel 2: ETS, CBAM and the Fertiliser Industry – Designing a fair transition
As a highly energy-intensive sector, fertiliser production sits at the centre of the EU’s carbon pricing framework, notably the EU Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. This panel will explore how these instruments address the growing competitiveness challenges facing the EU fertiliser sector and consequently the cost pressures affecting both industry and farmers.

Panellists will examine the economic realities of reducing emissions in fertiliser production, where technological options such as electrification remain uncompetitive and long investment cycles – often spanning decades – make the transformation complex. With key policy decisions approaching, the discussion will consider how the revised ETS can support the industrial competitiveness while preserving the integrity and stability of the carbon market.

The debate will also address import competition, the risk of carbon leakage, and the potential impact on food prices. Particular attention will be given to alternative decarbonisation routes, and the need to stimulate demand for low-carbon fertilisers.

Key questions to be addressed:

-Why is fertiliser decarbonisation progressing more slowly than in other sectors?
-In the upcoming ETS Review, how can the EU prevent carbon leakage and ensure that this policy does not undermine the competitiveness of EU industries?
-Should fertilisers be treated as a special case due to their link to food security?
-What policy framework is needed to enable the industry to transition while maintaining production in Europe?

Europe’s renewed exposure to geopolitical instability has underscored the urgency of reducing its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Ensuring a resilient, sustainable and secure energy supply is now a central pillar of the EU’s economic and strategic agenda. In this context, green molecules have been highlighted as one of the key enablers of greater energy autonomy and competitiveness.

To support these goals, the European Commission has proposed the Industrial Accelerator Act, which aims to expand resilient and decarbonised industrial production within the EU. Many stakeholders note, however, that success will depend on whether Europe can overcome the cost and infrastructure barriers associated with scaling new technologies while ensuring a predictable investment environment.

Listen to this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to explore how green molecules can reinforce Europe’s energy security, improve cost competitiveness and support the creation of strategic European value chains. Questions to be addressed include:

• How can green molecules be integrated efficiently into existing infrastructure to boost Europe’s industrial competitiveness?
• What policies and infrastructure are needed to scale up green molecules as part of Europe’s energy security strategy?
• How can the Industrial Accelerator Act help build resilient European supply chains while keeping costs under control?
• What regulatory levers are required to create EU-led markets for green molecules and strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy?

Europe’s industrial competitiveness is high on the EU's strategic agenda as industries face increasing pressure from global competition, shifting trade dynamics and increasing regulation.

The European machinery and equipment manufacturing industry provides 3 million high-quality and well-paid jobs in Europe, is globally successful and is associated with the 'Made in Europe' quality mark more than almost any other industry.

It provides technologies and equipment that enable other industries across Europe to innovate, produce efficiently, and advance the green and digital transitions. The sector is perceived by many as a genuine European strength, yet its heterogeneity and complexity mean it can fly under the radar of EU policymakers, while at the same time becoming increasingly exposed to unintended regulatory side effects that risk undermining its competitiveness.

European manufacturers must deal with complex regulatory frameworks, rising production costs, and intensifying global competition - especially from regions operating under very different regulatory and cost conditions. While remaining globally competitive, companies are also expected to continue driving innovation and contributing to Europe’s climate and sustainability objectives.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up a large share of the machinery manufacturing sector and are deeply embedded in Europe’s industrial value chains. For many of these companies, regulatory complexity and administrative burdens can significantly constrain investment, innovation, and international competitiveness.

As the EU further develops its industrial, trade and sustainability policies, the challenge will be to create a framework that supports innovation, reduces unnecessary burdens, and ensures fair global competition.

Listen to this Euractiv Virtual Conference to discuss how Europe’s machinery and equipment manufacturing industry can remain competitive in a changing global environment while continuing to enable innovation, support industrial value chains and contribute to Europe’s climate and economic goals.

Questions to be addressed include:

- What role does the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry play in Europe’s industrial value chains and economic resilience?
- How can European machinery manufacturers remain competitive amid increasing global competition and trade challenges?
- How can regulatory frameworks be simplified to better support SMEs while maintaining high European standards?
- What policies are needed to ensure fair global competition and a level playing field for European industry?
- How can innovation in the machinery sector strengthen competitiveness while supporting Europe’s climate goals?
- How can policymakers and industry work together to better capitalise on the strategic importance of the machinery sector for Europe’s economy?