Council highlights role of FP7 in transforming Europe into low-carbon economy
Europe could make better use of instruments like the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to boost innovation in the low carbon and energy technologies. This was one of the items for discussion at an informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 21 July in Lisbon, Portugal. In the context of the ongoing interim review of the EU's industrial policy, Ministers focused the debate on industry sustainability, as proposed in the policy document presented by the Portuguese EU Council Presidency. The policy paper outlines what EU industry needs to do to strengthen its position globally, particularly in the area of low carbon and energy and resource efficient products, technologies and services. Ministers agreed that there is a need to accelerate the development of lead market initiatives for low carbon products. To do so will require the right framework conditions for leveraging innovation such as developing policies to help these products get to the market and making better use of Community instruments such as FP7, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme and State Aid rules. The paper makes the case that these instruments could contribute significantly to developing lead markets in several key areas. These include low-energy housing (e.g. heat pumps, insulation products and information and communication technology (ICT) systems); energy efficiency in industry (e.g. boilers, electric motors); low carbon emitting power generation (e.g. wind turbines, second generation bio-fuels, biomass gasification); renewable raw materials and low emission cars (e.g. energy efficient motors, tyres, hybrid technologies). Ministers backed the idea of an action plan that would integrate appropriate instruments for facilitating the promotion of industrial sustainability. They shared the view that such an action plan would have to be coordinated with other relevant EU policies and initiatives, especially with those related to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Countries
Portugal