On 1 February, the Commission presented a Green Deal Industrial Plan to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's net-zero industry and support the fast transition to climate neutrality. The Plan aims to provide a more supportive environment for the scaling up of the EU's manufacturing capacity for the net-zero technologies and products required to meet Europe's ambitious climate targets.

The Plan builds on previous initiatives and relies on the strengths of the EU Single Market, complementing ongoing efforts under the European Green Deal and REPowerEU. It is based on four pillars: a predictable and simplified regulatory environment, speeding up access to finance, enhancing skills, and open trade for resilient supply chains.

On 23 January, Commissioner Thierry Breton met with representatives from European public and commercial financial institutions and international financial institutions to discuss the financing of projects supporting the critical raw materials (CRM) value chain. The event was co-hosted with EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle. The primary goal was to discuss the opportunities and obstacles that exist today in financing critical raw materials projects along the entire value chain in the EU and third countries and to obtain input also in view of the preparation of the Critical Raw Materials act. CRM are key for the green transition.

On 27 January, the Commission published the Transition Pathway for the Chemical Industry. The pathway is an actionable plan co-developed by the European Commission with EU countries, chemical industry stakeholders, NGOs and other interested parties. It helps building a strong business case and provides a roadmap for investments towards safe and sustainable chemicals. The first stakeholder meeting on the co-implementation of the Pathway will take place on 6 March 2023. During the co-implementation process, stakeholders will be invited to commit to specific actions for the green and digital transition of the Chemical Industry.

After intense negotiations and a political agreement, the new Machinery Regulation, is being finalised. This new regulation will not only cover risks of emerging digital technologies, but will also reduce  the use of paper and costs for manufacturers thanks to the possibility of using digital instructions and will strengthen the competitiveness of our European Industry. Adoption in the European Parliament is foreseen in April.

The Single Market remains a key tool to address Europe's current challenges, according the ASMR and the SMS. The reports highlight the importance of continuously improving its functioning, as well as the Single Market's impact in terms of increased added value to the EU's economy. On Tuesday, 31 January, the Commission published the 2023 Annual Single Market Report and the 2022 Single Market Scoreboard, as part of activities to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Single Market. The 2023 Annual Single Market Report takes stock of the integration of the Single Market and analyses how it helps Europe to navigate current geopolitical tensions, improve EU competitiveness and support the green and digital transitions of our economy. The 2022 Single Market Scoreboard shows how the Single Market benefits the EU economy. It provides a detailed overview of how EU Single Market rules were applied across the European Economic Area, with the objective of identifying improvements for the Single Market. The Scoreboard focuses on the progress made in implementing EU law, overall business conditions, integration of the Single Market and other major policy goals like growth and jobs, resilience, digital and green economy.

Announced by the Standardisation strategy a year ago, the new High-Level Forum on European standardisation puts a new stakeholder governance on standardisation in place to galvanise EU leadership in standards, support a green, digital and resilient Single Market and further align standardisation actions with EU policy priorities. The Forum was kicked-off on 20 January 2023 with an inaugural meeting chaired by Commissioner Breton. The high-level representatives of all members identified standardisation priorities and discussed horizontal issues such as (i) education and skills to prepare the next generation of experts; (ii) Inclusiveness of SMEs and civil society at national and international level; (iii) the challenges related to fundamental rights in standardisation. 

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) proposal aims to make products on the EU market increasingly sustainable, by improving their circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects throughout their whole lifecycle. Why is the public consultation of key importance? First, the feedback from stakeholders will help identify the categories of new products and measures that ESPR should address and regulate first. Secondly, the insights from the consultation will help the Commission refine preliminary assessments, close existing information gaps, and ensure that the future priorities under ESPR are set in a transparent and inclusive way. Ultimately, the input on the consultation will contribute towards making products across the EU Single Market more sustainable and competitive.

DG GROW has planned a year-long communication and outreach campaign on the Single Market, which is open to all local events or initiatives organised by authorities and other stakeholders across the EU. In this context, we have set up a dedicated website with an interactive map where we have started listing relevant events organised in the Member States at the local and national level. We encourage you to share with us any of your relevant events. The site also offers useful materials for your events, such as the SM30 visual identity and the style guide of the campaign, promotional material such as posters, roll-ups, social media, virtual meeting backgrounds and a lot more.

On 2 February, President Ursula von der Leyen travelled to Kyiv, accompanied by 15 Commissioners, for the first ever meeting between the College and the Ukrainian Government. The meeting between the College and the government of Ukraine sent a strong signal of the EU's unwavering commitment to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes, including with a new €450 million assistance package for 2023. This brings the total support made available so far to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's war from the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions to around €50 billion. In addition to this, the Commission is working towards a €1 billion contribution to fast recovery. To support Ukraine, the Commission has also put forward additional measures to facilitate trade, notably the suspension of import duties on Ukrainian exports and will now propose to extend such measures beyond June 2023. The establishment of Solidarity Lanes has also helped Ukraine export its goods and import what it needs, with more than 23 million  tonnes of grain and related products already transported via these alternative  routes.

Despite the arduous challenges caused by the Russian invasion, Ukraine showed impressive willingness to accelerate its path towards the integration in the EU Single Market and our teams have been negotiating the Association Agreement of Ukraine to the Single Market Programme (SMP), following Ukraine’s formal expression of interest in this programme in 2021. The SMP is the EU’s financial programme to boost the Single Market. It is aimed at strengthening and increasing the visibility of the Single Market over 2021-2027, focusing on the economic recovery of each industrial ecosystem. The agreement will provide Ukraine with support to businesses, facilitating access to markets, favourable business environment, sustainable growth and internationalisation. It will allow Ukraine to benefit from specific calls under the programme for SMEs, as well as to participate in initiatives like the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs and the Enterprise Europe Network. It will also give the possibility to apply for funding to national statistics producers, for the production and dissemination of high-quality statistics to monitor the economic, social, environmental and territorial situation. 

In the margins of the meeting between the College and the Ukrainian Government, President von der Leyen and Prime minister Shmyhal concluded a Strategic Partnership on Biomethane, Hydrogen and Other Synthetic Gases. This Memorandum of Understanding will expand the ongoing energy cooperation between the EU and Ukraine to renewable gases such as biomethane, hydrogen and other synthetic and sustainably produced gases. It reaffirms both sides' commitment to reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports, especially Russian gas, and work towards climate neutrality.

Read the latest developments of DG GROW's analysis of supply chains disruptions related to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

24 February 2022 – 5AM, I will never forget my brother’s voice over the phone: 'Did you see what is going on? They are bombing everything'. It felt like the end of the world, I checked the news on my phone right away, all I could see was Russian missiles destroying the cities of my home country, Ukraine.

Helping SMEs protect their intellectual property is one of the key objectives of the SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe and the 2020 Action Plan on Intellectual Property (IP). With the SME Fund, the Commission is supporting SMEs to better manage their IP portfolios, in view of helping them accelerate their green and digital transitions, as well as support their overall recovery from recent crises like COVID-19 and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Joint Commission and European Central Bank research shows SMEs faced increased financing and input costs. Availability of financing is decreasing. InvestEU is one answer to address these challenges. The survey also provides key insights, including the results for each EU country and for different groups of enterprises, as well as an analytical report with detailed analysis.

The 10^th edition of the European Social Innovation Competition is now over. This year the competition put forward new ideas to design better, nicer and more sustainable living spaces. DG GROW Deputy Director General Hubert Gambs announced the winners in an award ceremony on 2 February.

In the framework of the 30th Anniversary of the Single Market, the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union will organize the workshop “Re-Connecting Europe” on 20 March. The Single Market is the key enabler of growth and resilience of the EU. This event will allow for an exchange of views on current challenges and to discuss ideas for the future of the Single Market. Click the 'More' button to register.

The European Cluster Collaboration Platform, in collaboration with Clusters of Sweden and Mobile Heights, is organising the second edition of the Cluster Collaboration Labs in Lund, Sweden, on 21-22 March 2023. It is open to cluster organisations, companies, research organisations, actors from the civil society, and other interested entities. Before and during the lab, the participants will team up and develop together their project idea and business case. After the workshop, the ECCP team will follow-up and support you in the further development of your projects, for example, looking into suitable financing sources. The C2Lab is open to participants from the European Union and the SMP/COSME countries. An Info session will be organised on 1 March. Click the 'More' button to register.

Enterprise Europe Network Thuringia is organising thematic tables between experts, stakeholders and Thuringian SMEs on 24 March. The five thematic tables will cover - the need for skilled workers, sustainability, financing, internationalisation and digitalisation. Regional experts will show how companies can benefit from the advantages of the EU internal market and who can provide practical support. Click the 'More' button to register.

We need to further boost the collaboration between EU and Ukrainian cluster organisations and companies in Ukraine.   The EU and Ukrainian (UA) companies need to develop their markets, find suppliers and clients as many business linkages have been disrupted. UA companies are looking for new orders and business opportunities and could become interesting partners for the European industry. Despite the Russian aggression toward Ukraine, Ukrainian companies are continuing their business operations. The event will bring together over 200 representatives of EU and Ukrainian clusters and companies, as well as national and regional public authorities and business support organisations from Slovakia and other EU regions, researchers, civil society members, financial intermediaries, innovation agencies, industrial associations, investors, and other related actors. This event will be an opportunity to build EU-Ukraine business relations, and to find partners to trade and invest with. Click the 'More' button to register.

The EU FINANCE DAYS are organised by the European Commission and implementing partners to present new financial and support programmes such as InvestEU, Single Market Programme and the European Innovation Council to businesses and relevant stakeholders. Join us at the next EU FINANCE DAY in Athens (web streaming will be available) on 30 March. Click the 'More' button to register.

Do you know someone who would be interested in getting information or updates on DG GROW’s files and policies? Don’t hesitate to forward this newsletter and invite them to sign up by subscribing here or by scanning the QR code!