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The European Commission published this week a Communication entitled: ‘The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation’. It outlines a comprehensive strategy to decarbonise European industries whilst fostering economic growth. Structured around six key pillars including clean transport, the deal seeks to create a competitive advantage for European industries in the global shift towards sustainability, with an emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing competitiveness.

 A significant component of the Clean Industrial Deal is promoting the uptake of sustainable alternative fuels, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as maritime and aviation. To support this, the Commission will encourage the uptake of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen through financing opportunities: a third call under the Hydrogen Bank will be launched in the third quarter of 2025, with a budget of up to EUR 1 billion, and Member States will be encourage to use ETS revenues and unused EU funds to accelerate the uptake of hydrogen production in the EU. The launch of the Hydrogen Mechanism under the Hydrogen Bank in Q2 2025 will also support demand for hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuels by mobilising and connecting offtakers and suppliers, linking participants with financing and de-risking instruments to facilitate aggregation of offtakers’ demand for such fuels.

 The Commission also intends to adopt a Sustainable Transport Investment Plan by the end of 2025/early 2026. The plan will outline short- and medium-term measures to prioritise support for specific renewable and low-carbon fuels for aviation and waterborne transport. It will also accelerate the rollout of recharging infrastructure and provide new rules facilitating aid for a shift towards sustainable land transport modes to enable the rail sector to embrace the clean and digital transition.

 Finally, the Communication highlights that demand-side measures will be introduced to strengthen the business case for decarbonized products, including corporate fleets. A legislative proposal on this topic is currently under preparation and is expected to be published in 2025 or 2026. CLECAT has already emphasized that the Commission must establish the right enabling conditions for the adoption of zero-emission light- and heavy-duty vehicles. This includes the deployment of charging and refueling infrastructure, as well as access to funding and financing opportunities. At the same time, CLECAT urges the Commission to refrain from imposing a ZEV mandate on transport fleet operators, as this would undermine the effectiveness, efficiency, and competitiveness of European operators.