Hydrogen Europe congratulates all new European Commission appointees on their nominations and looks forward to delivering on our climate promises together. The proposed ambitious new formation of the European Commission comes at a pivotal time for hydrogen and the energy transition.  

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, commented: “We congratulate the new appointees and President von der Leyen in moving the European Commission towards finalising its new structure. This next Commission, once appointed, will be tasked with getting us over the line on our crucial 2030 climate targets. We look forward to being able to support their mission with hydrogen’s crucial enabling role in the transition.”  

Now is the time for Europe to implement the recommendations of the recent reports from Mario Draghi and the European Court of Auditors: Europe’s deteriorating global market share in hydrogen can be reversed if we focus on his recommendations for sustainability, resilience, and prosperity. By extending acceleration measures and emergency regulation to hydrogen – among other clean technologies – we can upscale quicker in this crucial area. In addition, supporting the growth of Hydrogen Valleys and of funding mechanisms like the European Hydrogen Bank will help us make great strides towards these goals.  

The issue of accelerating measures, in essence simplifying permitting and planning regulations for clean tech, has long been touted by Hydrogen Europe and echoed strongly in the recent European Court of Auditors (ECA) report: we must urgently tackle the length and complexity of hydrogen legislation implementation. We therefore urge the Commission to follow the ECA’s recommendations and update the hydrogen strategy as soon as possible in order to align with the National Energy & Climate Plans (NECPs), and that the industry may act upon the update’s conclusions. 

We now expect the nomination process to proceed swiftly in order not to delay our crucial mission of achieving a net zero society, with the hydrogen economy as its key enabler.  

Under President von der Leyen’s leadership, we trust that the EU will work hard to ensure Europe stays on track to deliver its clean prosperity agenda. To retain our global competitiveness while delivering a resilient and sustainable economy for all future generations, we must act now. Let’s get to work.  

For more info: 

• European Commission: Commissioners-designate (2024-2029)

• European Court of Auditors, Special report 11/2024

• Mario Draghi report: 

• EC’s EU competitiveness: Looking ahead

• The future of European competitiveness Part A | A competitiveness strategy for Europe

• The future of European competitiveness Part B | In-depth analysis and recommendations