On 27th November, following the hearings of the new Commissioner-Designates and a week of political stalemate, the Commission von der Leyen II received the confirmation of the European Parliament. The new Commission officially took office on 1st December.
Von der Leyen outlined the priorities for the new Commission in the Political Guidelines published in July, and then more in detail in the individual Mission Letters sent to each Commissioner in September.
A central topic of the next Commission’s mandate will be the affordability of energy and housing. This will be the main job of Dan Jørgensen, who is mandated to tackle these issues with a European affordable housing Plan, expected by the end of February.
Another crucial topic of the next College will be industrial competitiveness, with the new EU executive expected to deliver a Clean Industrial Deal in the first 100 days. Executive Vice-Presidents Stéphane Séjourné (Prosperity and Industrial Strategy) and Teresa Ribera (Clean, Just and Competitive Transition) will be the leading actors.
A further important measure related to competitiveness is simplification to ease the administrative burden on European companies, which must enable and not undermine EU’s climate ambitions, as clearly stated by Commissioner-designate Wopke Hoekstra (Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth). This is particularly important for the European solar thermal industry as it is mostly comprised of SMEs.
Solar Heat Europe calls on policymakers at EU and national level to create an enabling regulatory and financial framework to accelerate the uptake of solar heat by local governments, citizens and industrial users. The association will work constructively with the new College to protect the European solar thermal industry and help everyone benefit from this sustainable and renewable heat source.
About Solar Heat Europe/ESTIF:
Solar Heat Europe/ESTIF’s mission is to promote solar heat as a key technology for the decarbonisation of heating and cooling in Europe and to realise the high potential of solar heat in the energy transition. With members in more than 15 European countries, Solar Heat Europe members cover different parts of the value chain, being based in countries as diverse as Finland or Cyprus.
Contact:
| Valérie Séjourné Managing Director valerie.sejourne@solarheateurope.eu Tel: +32 471 34 19 24 | Anna Ledro Communications and Events Officer anna.ledro@solarheateurope.eu Tel: +32 2 318 40 59 |