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Energy Policy Group Association

EPG

The Energy Policy Group (EPG) is a Bucharest-based non-profit, independent think-tank specializing in energy, industrial, and climate policy, market analytics and strategy.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Katri Kulmuni (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Oct 2025 · Teollisuuden hiilipäästöjen hallinta EU:ssa

Meeting with Radan Kanev (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Oct 2025 · Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage

Response to Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act

7 Jul 2025

The Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act (IDAA) will be an essential driver for a competitive, clean EU industry. Its impact will be particularly salient for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, with its significant industrial base, higher-than-average economic and employment contribution of industry, and massive infrastructure development. Our consultation response reflects the views of six think tanks working to advance industrial decarbonisation in the CEE region: Energy Policy Group (Romania), Center for the Study of Democracy (Bulgaria), Institut Cirkulární Ekonomiky (INCIEN) (Czech Republic), Association for International Affairs (Czech Republic), Green Policy Center (Hungary), and Bellona Europa. The full response is available in the attached document. The IDAA has the potential to generate exceptional effects across the European Union. However, there is a thin line between innovative industrial rebirth and increasing disparities between Western and CEE Member states. The IDAA may offer a unique opportunity to unlock long-term industrial competitiveness in the CEE region. If tailored appropriately, it could play a pivotal role in transforming traditional manufacturing-dependent economies into strategic clean industry hubs integrated into European value chains. Accelerating decarbonisation in the CEE region would not only reinforce the EUs internal cohesion, but also enhance its geopolitical position. By enabling the development of clean manufacturing capacities in CEE, the Act can help establish a resilient and regionally balanced industrial base for the future. To unlock this potential, the IDAA should consider several key elements: 1. Ensure that strategic targeting of projects does not create a two-speed Europe, and carefully consider the metrics used to select industrial decarbonisation projects for support, considering that many CEE Member States struggle with low innovation potential and less favourable economics of decarbonisation. 2. Ensure additionality of the IDAA to make sure that all tools, requirements, and criteria it introduces align with, complement or strengthen existing or future initiatives, and consider how public funding made available under the IDAA can support CEE countries in attracting external investments, considering the less favourable investment environment compared to Western Europe. 3. Address the high energy costs faced by industry, particularly concerning electrification projects, and complement the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework to ensure effective decarbonisation. 4. Introduce low-carbon requirements and labels based on technology-neutral benchmarks, with clear and harmonized definitions covering climate impact, circularity, and environmental impact, and plan for adequate technical and administrative support in rolling out low-carbon standards to avoid locking out CEE Member States with low administrative capacity but good industrial potential and strategic positioning. 5. Reflect the non-negligible environmental pressure of new, low-carbon industrial processes in the evaluation of impact for strategic industrial decarbonisation projects, as well as in low-carbon standards, aiming to cover Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions supported by a clear, harmonised, carbon accounting methodology.
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Meeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament)

1 Oct 2024 · EU environmental and industrial policies