“Thank you chair. Just as a digital trade, I will briefly introduce a point before giving the floor to Kitty that will develop further the hydrogen policy. So as you rightly introduced the issue, indeed the the external dimension of the strategy is certainly key and important. And also it is what we have already started doing with all our trade actions. Because as you rightly also pointed in your introduction, it is important not only to develop the infrastructure, but also to make sure that we have a convergence as regards the regulatory concerns, but also as regards the definition of what green energy might be, and also to work as all the certification process. So it's going well beyond the scope of her. It is a full scope of the trade relation which is relevant. So we are using then all our tools in order to support this diversification, while making sure that we do not replicate the dependencies that we have experienced in other in other energy goods. So we just in order to illustrate my point, as part of our free trade agreement, we are making sure that the hydrogen and is well covered in all the different chapters, be it from the investment point of view, but also from an energy and raw material chapter point of view, or also our trading relations. And we make sure that the condition at the right in order to to support the the flow of investment, but also to support then the free flow of the of the hydrogen between our preferential trading partners and the EU. We also use the newly tool of the Clean and Trade and Investment Partnerships in order also to promote this.”
Low-carbon hydrogen
“Some other trading partners, such as the one that you have mentioned before, I'm thinking about the US indeed, that have a much more aggressive type of subsidies being put in place in order to break even the situation than to make green hydrogen a reality. And it's still something that we are working on with other trading partners, not only regarding the different instrument that has been mentioned as regards the green, the hydrogen bank, precisely in order to, to to to make this happen and to, to to to make the offer reality. But we still have to to continue working on this and the, the different element that we are doing in order to facilitate investment is at least we are making sure that at the level of the trade rules, it is not. There is no barrier for such a type of investment. But there is no doubt also that the economic reality is there for any project. And this is what the colleagues also, which are not present today in DG and PA, are trying to do it also to finance different projects outside, and it is what we are doing also as part of CTP. So we are convinced also that through CTP what we will be um, joining uh, trade promotion type of activity at project level together with a DG enterprise DG, DG also in PA will be able maybe to turn more in concrete elements that will be better placed to reply to your question, but this is something that is in the making still. But I will let also complement the reply to the many questions that we have received. Thank you.”
“So it is not just to develop the rule based approach, but also to make sure that there is support. So it has been recently announced that the EU will be working together with South Africa. Just as an illustration of my point and as part also of this approach, we will be also working with South Africa in order to seek as much as we can to also promote actively for concrete projects the the development of the hydrogen value chain between our two two respective partners. But it is not just through this bilateral element also as part of the WTO. We have also as part of the IPA initiatives, also some regular contacts with our trading partners in order to promote the regulatory convergence, notably of the different aspects in order to make sure that there is really a convergence of the different trading partners as regards hydrogen and the approach to it. Finally, um, just briefly, also the production of hydrogen also require some critical raw materials. So I will just link also this discussion that we are having today with the other discussions that we have had in the past regarding the critical raw material strategy, because also it is particularly important to have access to platinum group metals in order to fuel the industry and the development of Electrolyzers. So I will stop here and will now give the floor to Katie in order to develop more specifically the elements that are done under energy policy.”
Low-carbon hydrogen · Sourcing of critical raw materials
“Thank you chair, and thank you for all those questions raised by MEPs. It seems to me also that part of the question of the first interventions have been replied by your intervention, Mr. Chairman, because precisely, as you rightly point out, it is a nation's industry, and it is precisely quite difficult to make the offer being developed as, as it should be developed. And that's why we are trying to work together with WTO partners in order to have a common view regarding our green hydrogen, notably, what are the type of, uh, of the conditions that need to be met in order to be able to access the different markets in the world? And it is precisely what has been the subject of preliminary discussion in this context, and is also what we try to do bilaterally with our trading partners as regards also the situation of nations. Industry presently requires cooperation at all levels from the cooperation that develops technology, because there is really a technological race today. The EU is well positioned for some of them, but not all. But we need to continue being open to all of them. Also, in order to produce green hydrogen, we need two cleantech technologies, one in order to produce usually clean electricity, a green electricity, and then to have the hydrogen production behind. So it is also to understand how complex also is the supply chain of green hydrogen that requires really a double investment. And that is why it is certainly an opportunity also for the EU, which is well placed both for clean electricity production but also for hydrogen. But it's still a sector which is in the making. So as you rightly pointed out, it may take some time, but I can guarantee you that we are doing all that we can, at least in order to set the right framework, in order to break and to attract these elements.”