Non-paper by The Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg: Demand creation for clean products in the steel and chemical industry | 2025

Summary

The European energy intensive industry (EII) form the backbone of nearly all EU manufacutring and is currently responsible for 18% of scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions. To create a future proof industrial ecosystem with net-zero emissions in the EU, the EII needs to debacornise and defossilise its processes. However this task comes with challenges  requiring the creation of a right set of circumstances to increase demand for low-carbon materials and products. This in turn build the necessary certainty for EII to invest. This can be achieved through targeted policy intentions which can create lead markets for low carbon products.

Following consultation with stakeholders, such as key industry partners, the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg propose a set of targeted measures to strengthen demand creation. This non-paper focusses on the steel and chemical sectors, given their EU-wide strategic relevance and foundational role for many European industrial value chains.

The measures brought forward by stakholders of the four members states includes:

• Guidelines on the impact assememnt the Commission should carry out when supporting lead markets creation with criteria such as fair, impactful, afforable.
• Overarching measures for both sectors for instance the creation of a European Lead Markets Platform and the creation of European standards of what can be defined as green or low carbon, and stimulating an ecosystem approach for lead markets encouraging EU and cross-border cooperation.
• Goals specific to demand creation for clean products in the steel sector by encouraging blending of scraps
• Goals specific to demand creation for clean products in the chemical sector by improving resilience and stimulating growth as well as increasing circularity and reducing emissions of product.

Download

Read the full document by clicking here or on the right hand side.