To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, electricity generation in Europe will have to increase and industrial investment will have to be much higher than in the previous decade. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Nikolay Pavlov during the sixth edition of the European Mining Business Forum (EMBF). He stressed that this huge challenge comes just as large companies and SMEs are facing serious difficulties — demand is falling, production costs are rising and investment is shifting to other regions. ‘Of particular importance is the fact that at the European level the question is raised about the industrial policy, which should be oriented towards the future and decarbonise the industry with clean technologies in a competitive way’, the deputy minister of economy added.
In his words, the zero-emission industry legislation and the critical raw materials legislation are the pillars of the new approach of the European industrial policy. ‘They aim to reduce the administrative burden and impose accelerated procedures for issuing permits for projects, for critical raw materials and for zero-emission projects’, Deputy Minister Pavlov said. He pointed out that this in turn gives investors long-term confidence and regulatory predictability.
During the forum, the deputy economy minister pointed out that if Europe wants to remain competitive on the global mineral markets and provide raw materials to meet the needs of its society, it must become a desirable place to invest and establish sustainable partnerships with third countries.
The mining sector is operated by nearly 500 companies in Bulgaria and employs about 20 000 people. ‘We believe that the implementation of the critical raw materials legislation will succeed in increasing and diversifying the supply of critical raw materials to the EU, which is fundamental’, he added.
Deputy Minister Pavlov emphasized that the Ministry of Economy and Industry, through the development of the new National Industrial Strategy aimed at the manufacturing and extractive industries, will do everything possible to make the energy industrial transition in our country happen in the best possible way, so that we have a competitive industry.
The forum was attended by representatives of the European Commission, members of the Bulgarian government, representatives of local authorities and academia, heads of European industry organisations, leading economic experts and business leaders.
The organisers of the European Mining Business Forum are the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology, the Ministry of Energy and the European Association of Mining Industries.