Today, together with 16 European associations committed to the development of the hydrogen market we sent a joint statement to the European Commission asking for a reality check for European Hydrogen policy in order to adjust the course at the EU level. Given the continued challenges and headwinds slowing the development of the hydrogen market we call on the Commission to urgently address the following issues:  

• Adopt a more pragmatic and technology neutral approach to enable cost-competitive hydrogen production.  

• A swift impact assessment of the consequences that the current RFNBO criteria have on production costs, GHG emission savings and the energy system. Based on its results, there is a need for rapid action from the Commission to address the challenges identified;  

• The adoption of a Delegated Regulation on Low Carbon Fuels in a similar pragmatic, technology neutral and fair way.  

• Ensure continued financial incentives are provided to lower the cost of hydrogen;  

• Support long-term planning security by revising the European Hydrogen Strategy;  

• Speed up, de-risk and smarten infrastructure development – here we call for an EU level action plan for hydrogen grids, mirroring what was adopted for electricity in the EU Action Plan for Grids (including measures for facilitating permitting);  

• Enable the creation of markets for products produced from and with RFNBOs and low-carbon fuels 

• Improve European incentives on the demand-side 

• Strengthen the EU’s role in creating a global market for hydrogen by developing the international leg of the EU Hydrogen Bank.  

We urge the Commission to act on these recommendations through (but not limited to) the upcoming initiatives, such as the Clean Industrial Deal, the Action Plan for Affordable Energy, and the Grids Package.