A coalition of European industry players, which includes GravitHy and Hydnum Steel, is calling on the European Commission to strengthen the upcoming Industrial Acceleration Act (IAA) and take measures to stimulate demand for low-carbon industrial products.
E3G, Hydrogen Europe and the Mission Possible Partnership are just some of the 40 organizations that also support this call.
"The provisions on demand seem to be mainly related to government procurement and government support schemes, as well as several sectors, namely metallurgy… We strongly support initiatives aimed at meeting demand in the public sector as an effective lever to create demand. However, the public sector alone cannot create sufficient demand for low-carbon products on a large scale, and a limited number of targeted sectors risks increasing market fragmentation," according to a joint statement reviewed by Callanish.
It adds that it is unclear in the Commission's internal draft whether low-carbon resource requirements for public procurement and government schemes will complement or obey origin-based criteria.
The signatories argue that without tougher market measures that increase demand, it will be difficult for European producers of low-carbon products to compete in the global market.
They recommend a number of policy instruments, including harmonized EU product standards, mandatory green public procurement with minimum quotas for low-carbon substances and requirements for origin from the EU/EEA, as well as mechanisms to stimulate private demand through mandates and financial instruments to reduce risks.
The IAA is expected to play a key role in implementing part of the European Commission's Clean Industry Agreement by expanding low-carbon production and creating a competitive environment for European products.
The signatories of the agreement warn that a simple reliance on public procurement will not be enough to transition to zero-cost technologies. They argue that more effective demand-boosting tools will help attract investment, save jobs, and attract new players to European value chains in environmentally friendly manufacturing.
The IAA is currently under development and is expected to be presented by the Commission as part of its work programme for 2026.
GravitHy is building a plant for the production of environmentally friendly direct reduction iron and hydrogen-based hot briquetting in Fos—sur-Mer.,
