Industrial partnership in the EU: A Shift in Gear

-A shift in gear is happening in the EU and it must also happen on the Norwegian side. We see that we need to better organize the Norwegian system to fulfill our obligations in this agreement, says Christophe Pinck, who is responsible for international relations in the Eyde Cluster, and has just participated in EU meetings in both Brussels and Lisbon.

Across departments

The green, strategic industrial partnership with the EU, which was entered into earlier this spring, now requires that we work even more across departments to better understand the connections between strategy, action, and instruments, according to Christophe Pinck's perception.

Read more about the industrial partnership here

He believes we are too conservative and stubbornly cling to the old ways, holding onto what we know rather than building something new.

-We need to understand that we must deliver on EU's terms and not our own desires. We cannot survive by producing only for ourselves. Therefore, we must deliver what the EU demands, and in the way they want it. Minimal environmental impact and value chain thinking play a central role here, he emphasizes.

New partnership on raw materials

Soon, a new EU partnership on raw materials will be launched, which will handle many of the measures related to critical raw materials, and Norway is lagging behind.

-The train is leaving, but so far, there are no resources allocated to deal with it. We also need to coordinate ourselves to develop and qualify strategic projects that are part of the agreement between Norway and the EU. Germany, France, Italy, and Ireland have allocated billions of euros to support the raw materials initiative, which is lacking in Norway, says Pinck.

-The problem is that our industry is uniquely positioned in Europe to take a leading role, but other countries are simply moving faster and could surpass us if we don't show willingness to implement, Pinck adds.

Desire for better information flow

A prerequisite for preparing ourselves for the green industrial partnership with the EU is better information flow to many actors. It seems like we need to disseminate information more rapidly and widely, involving both businesses, funding agencies, and the Ministry of Education and Research.

-The information flow on the Norwegian side is not good enough. We have direct dialogue with the EU embassy and the EU Commission to ensure good information flow, he informs.

This entails providing companies with good information about projects and continuing to work on innovation in circular value chains to deliver the most sustainable raw materials possible. It's about ensuring supply security and providing a sustainability guarantee for what we deliver to the EU.

For example, see our EU project on the management of critical raw materials through digital product passports: CE-RISE or the national side-stream database.

-It is incredibly important that we can meet what the EU expects of us. Otherwise, it's not worth signing the agreement. I believe there is an expectation from the EU that we must prepare ourselves better to meet their expectations on delivering under the agreement. And we must do this before the summer vacation, Pinck concludes.

Read more about raw materials in the Eyde Cluster