EuropeOn has co-chaired the Electrification Alliance with AVERE, the European Association for Electromobility, for the past 6 months. Today, on July 1st, SolarPower Europe is taking over for the next 6 months.

EuropeOn is dedicated to advancing electrification across Europe for the benefit of our economy, energy security, consumers and climate. Indeed, we have made electrification one of our two (interlinked) pillars in our Manifesto for the next European legislative cycle, but electrification has been at our core since the creation of our association in 1954.

Unsurprisingly, EuropeOn was thrilled to become a member of the Electrification Alliance back in 2019. After a few years as members, EuropeOn welcomed the opportunity to hold the rotating presidency with AVERE. While the months preceding the EU elections should have been fairly quiet, we are pleased that the Electrification Alliance has been able to work on making electrification cornerstone of the next Commission’s agenda and for the implementation of the Green Deal.

In the past 6 months, the co-chairs built on the Alliance’s manifesto that was handed over to Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson last October. EuropeOn and AVERE coordinated the policy teams of the Alliance’s members to further work on our manifesto’s asks, with a focus on our call for an Electrification Action Plan to be released by the Commission in the first 10 days of its new tenure. This work was supported by the Alliance’s communication workstream which recently kickstarted our joint #100DaysToElectrify campaign on social media.

Once the groundwork was laid, the Electrification Alliance met with Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Deputy Director General of the Commission’s Directorate for Energy (DG ENER), in May, to further discuss what an Electrification Action Plan could entail. The initiative was welcomed by the Commission representatives.

Alongside this flagship initiative, the Alliance has also endeavoured over the last 6 months to push for electrification in other, more specific, remits:

• First, the Alliance has reacted to the Commission’s Communication on the 2040 climate targets to highlight the central role of electrification for the attainment of these targets.
• Second, the Energy Taxation Directive has contributed to impeding the adequate electrification of Europe’s energy consumption but the EU has continuously failed to revise it. Against this backdrop, the Alliance has called for the revision of this Directive to be prioritised by the Belgian Presidency and ensure that its revision leads to more incentives to electrify. This file is still pending.
• Third, the Alliance highlighted the importance and relevance of electrification for the priorities defined by EU Member States. Ahead of the initial discussion on the EU’s next Strategic Agenda, the Alliance reached out to the Council to explain in detail how electrification can answer many of the challenges that had been identified this context.
• Finally, the Alliance reached to the Energy Council in April to emphasise the need to cater to Europe’s electricity grids. This means expanding grids where necessary but also tapping into the efficiency potential of flexible grids.

Interestingly, as our chairmanship is coming to an end, the Council just released its much-awaited Strategic Agenda, on 27 June, and confirmed they would propose Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament as candidate for her re-election as President of the European Commission. This is a good sign for the continuation and strengthening of the EU Green Deal. Regarding the Strategic Agenda, its chapter on competitiveness includes “making a success of the green and digital transitions” and referencing electrification as the main road for success: “Accelerating the energy transition, we will build a genuine energy union, securing the supply of abundant, affordable and clean energy. This will require ambitious electrification using all net-zero- and low-carbon solutions, and investment in grids, storage and interconnections.” This unambiguous message was immediately echoed by EuropeOn’s General Secretary in a LinkedIn post.

We look forward to the continued cooperation among the Electrification Alliance’s members and to keeping on promoting the benefits of electrification during the next legislative cycle.