In a report adopted on Monday, MEPs in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee outline their strategy for energy storage, which plays a crucial role in reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate change.

Lead MEP Claudia Gamon (Renew Europe, AT) said: “Energy storage will be essential for the transition to a decarbonised economy based on renewable energy sources. As electricity generated by wind or solar energy will not always be available in the quantities needed, we will need to store energy. Apart from storage technologies that we already know work well like pumped hydro storage, a number of technologies will play a crucial role in the future, such as new battery technologies, thermal storage or green hydrogen. These must be given market access to ensure a constant energy supply for European citizens.”

Green hydrogen

The Industry, Research and Energy Committee calls on the European Commission and member states to remove regulatory barriers that hamper the development of energy storage projects, such as double taxation or shortcomings in EU network codes. The Trans-European energy networks also need to be revised in order to improve eligibility criteria for those wishing to develop energy storage facilities, MEPs say.

MEPs also highlight the potential of hydrogen produced from renewable sources (so-called “ green hydrogen”), and call on the Commission to continue supporting research into and development of a hydrogen economy. Support measures are needed to reduce the cost of green hydrogen to make it economically viable, they say. The Commission should also assess if retrofitting gas infrastructure to transport hydrogen is possible, as the use of natural gas is only of a transitional nature.

Batteries and new storage options

The committee also supports the Commission’s efforts to create European standards for batteries and to reduce dependence on their production outside of Europe. The EU’s heavy dependence on importing raw materials from sources where extraction degrades the environment should be reduced through enhanced recycling schemes and by sourcing raw materials sustainably, possibly in the EU.

Finally, MEPs propose ways to boost other storage options, such as mechanical and thermal storage, as well as the development of decentralised storage through home batteries, domestic heat storage, vehicle-to-grid technology and smart home energy systems.

Next steps

The report was adopted with 53 votes to 3, and 15 abstentions. It will be put to a vote during the 8-10 July plenary session.

Background

In order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the European energy system will need to become carbon-neutral by the second half of this century. However, while renewable sources of energy are key to achieving this, some of the most important renewables are not always reliable: the output of solar and wind power depends on the time of day, the seasons and the weather. As the share of variable renewables increases, energy storage is playing an increasingly important role in bridging the gap in time between energy production and energy consumption.

The European Commission estimates that the EU will need to be able to store six times more energy than today to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

On Monday, the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee adopted a resolution by 65 votes to 1 and 14 abstentions, calling on the Commission to come up with a new chemicals strategy for sustainability that effectively ensures a high level of protection of health and the environment, minimising exposure to hazardous chemicals. It also says that further regulatory measures are needed to adequately protect vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly.

The new chemicals strategy must fully reflect the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle, as well as being more transparent during the approval process. It should also encourage safe and sustainable alternatives to be developed in a competitive way, including through a clear commitment to securing funds for research.

MEPs believe there is a need to support the ‘one substance – one hazard assessment’ principle, to allow substances to be reviewed by only one EU agency to speed up and make chemicals regulation more consistent.

More to be done on endocrine disruptors and pesticides

The resolution calls for a comprehensive EU framework on endocrine disruptors (EDCs) to effectively minimise the extent to which humans and the environment are exposed to EDCs, and insert specific provisions into legislation on toys, food contact materials and cosmetics to treat EDCs like substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction.

It also calls on the Commission to heed the various calls of the European Parliament to improve the EU’s authorisation procedure for pesticides and accelerate the transition towards low-risk pesticides.

Encourage green innovation and end toxic recycling

MEPs call on the Commission to develop EU criteria for Sustainable Chemicals to provide incentives for sustainable chemistry, materials and technologies, especially non-chemical alternatives that are safe.

MEPs also underline that there are harmful chemicals in recycled products and therefore call for the same rules that apply to new products to apply to recycled materials.

The EU must also minimise and progressively replace animal testing through expanded use of new approach methodologies and intelligent testing strategies.

Next steps

The resolution, which still has to be adopted by Plenary, is Parliament’s input to the upcoming EU chemicals strategy for sustainability foreseen to be presented by the Commission this autumn. A draft roadmap was open for feedback until 20 June. It is part of the European Green Deal.

An oral question to the Commission has also been adopted, asking what measures the Commission is intending to take under the chemicals strategy for sustainability and in particular, how the Commission intends to improve the functioning of REACH to close the regulatory gaps in EU legislation.

Indicative programme

09.00 Republic of Korea- EU leaders’ video conference meeting

At the end of the meeting: press conference by President Michel and President von der Leyen in live streaming.

Arrangements for the press conference

Please note that there will be no physical press conference. It can be followed via live streaming. English, French and Korean interpretation available.

In order to ask questions remotely, EU accredited journalists and journalists who had a EUCO accreditation from June 2019 EUCO meeting or later, can register using this link.

Journalists who already registered for high-level press conferences (European Council, EU-Western Balkans summit) in April, May and June or for the press briefing on 29/6 don’t need to register again.

Deadline for registration: Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 09.30

Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants approximately half an hour after the deadline.

In the context of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the European Commission and the Community Plant Variety Office have published updated guidance for stakeholders regarding the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the EU rules applicable in the field of Community Plant Variety Rights.

Updated guidance is also available regarding the marketing of seeds and other plant reproductive propagating material. The marketing of seeds and other plant reproductive propagating material is outside the scope of competence of the CPVO. Nontheless, since it is closely related to the activities of the CPVO we wish to draw the stakeholders attention on future developments in that area as well. 

Both documents can be downloaded in PDF format below and further information on other sectors (e.g. plant health) can be found on the European Commission’s website.

In addition, we invite relevant stakeholders to consult the information available on the United Kingdom’s DEFRA website. 

June 29, 2020 European Trade Mark and Design Network

European Cooperation: New Trade Mark Law in Cyprus

On 5 June 2020 the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus voted in favour of its new Trade Mark Law which was subsequently published on 17 June 2020.

This milestone was achieved with the active involvement of the EUIPO, which offered legal assistance throughout the process of drafting the new law.

The new Trade Mark IP Law in Cyprus encompasses, inter alia: the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2436; the introduction of the multi-class system; the discontinuation of the need for a power of attorney document; new paper applications; and fees.

The new Trade Mark IP Law in Cyprus has simplified the whole application and registration procedure, while adding timelines for the completion of opposition, cancellation and revocation procedures and bringing an end to previously lengthy processes.

All of the abovementioned initiatives were built into the new and improved front office e-filing system, which was also developed with the help of the EUIPO and the European Cooperation Programme (ECP2) and put into production immediately after the publication of the new Trade Mark IP Law.