The Steel Industry Association (WV Stahl) and the German Renewable Energy Association (BEE) are calling on the federal government to hold a transformation summit. This is essential in order to analyze the situation after the Karlsruhe ruling and to secure the path to a climate-neutral future.
This ruling determined that the transfer of 60 billion euros to the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) was unconstitutional and has consequences, especially for the future framework conditions for transformation investments. According to the two associations, the overall financing of the green transformation of the industrial location is at considerable risk.
The President of the Steel Industry Association, Bernhard Osburg, calls for clarity, especially on the following questions:
- What happens next with European IPCEI funding? Only six of 45 projects have been approved so far. In 25 projects, the early start of measures was approved and investments began with the confidence that the funding would then be approved and paid out via national budgets.
- What does this mean for electricity prices? The goal of competitive electricity prices must be maintained.
- What happens next with the climate protection agreements?
- What happens next with the hydrogen ramp-up and the infrastructure required for this?
- What's next for investment aid for transformation, which is a lever for private investments?
Security in Germany
There must be planning and investment security for companies in Germany as quickly as possible, otherwise there is a risk of investments in transformation coming to a standstill. This would have far-reaching consequences for climate protection goals, the competitiveness of the business location and for employment, warns Osburg. Solutions should not only be based on budgetary policy considerations, but should above all be geared towards economic and location policy. In addition, a timely implementation of the federal-state pact to accelerate planning and approval processes is necessary, according to the joint press release.
“The renewables industry in Germany needs key raw materials such as steel and the industry needs an affordable and reliable energy supply. This is only possible with 100 percent renewable energies for electricity, heat and molecules. Renewables also take into account the previous ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court that the federal government is obliged to achieve the climate neutrality goal. Investors for renewables are available across all sectors, including storage and green hydrogen. What is now needed is clarity about the pace of expansion, the guardrails of a new electricity market, but also about strengthening European value creation. Resilience and climate neutrality are the guardrails for a sustainable industrial strategy,” explains Dr. Simone Peter, President of the Federal Renewable Energy Association. v.
The leaders of the two associations are jointly calling for the federal government to convene a transformation summit this year. In the new year, the pact agreed by the federal and state governments to accelerate the elimination of regulatory hurdles and obstacles must also be implemented in order to simplify approval procedures and reduce bureaucracy.
