Commission launches calls for feedback on Net-Zero Industry Act secondary legislation

The Commission has launched 4 calls for public feedback on different secondary legislation relating to the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) Regulation 2024/1735. In the form of 3 implementing regulations and 1 delegated regulation, these rules are aimed at supporting the NZIA's objective of creating a regulatory framework that boosts the competitiveness of EU industry and advances technologies crucial for decarbonisation. The acts are published for feedback for a 4-week period and the input will feed into the Commission preparation of the final draft acts, before being put to Member States in the relevant experts groups and comitology committee, and then final adoption by the Commission.

Implementing Act on non-price criteria in renewable energy auctions : Article 26 of the NZIA establishes rules for Member State auctions to deploy renewable energy sources, including certain non-price criteria that must be applied to 30% of auction volumes (or 6 GW per MS) from January 2026 onwards. The criteria listed are: responsible business conduct, cybersecurity and data security, ability to deliver the project fully and on time, and criteria to assess the auction's sustainability and resilience contribution. This implementing act clarifies what this entails. The aim is to outline a general definition and more detailed parameters to harmonise application of these criteria, while still leaving some flexibility to Member States. The implementing act recalls that well-designed objective and transparent criteria that reward higher value-added products and promote industrial scale-up can better support an innovative and competitive manufacturing industry. Deadline: 21 February 2025 (midnight Brussels time)

Delegated act on primarily used components under the NZIA : The NZIA is aimed at strengthening EU manufacturing capacities of key clean technologies, not only considering the final product of net-zero technologies, but also the components primarily used for the production of these final products. Foreseen under Article 46(7), this delegated act seeks to amend the Annex to the NZIA. The components listed in this annex can be considered as "primarily used for the production of net-zero technologies". The delegated act is based on a methodology drafted using the criteria put forward in the basic act. The list of components in the Annex will support Member States in their implementation of the NZIA. It will not constitute a final list of components, as other components could still benefit from the relevant provisions but that would require approval at Member State level. Deadline: 20 February 2025 (midnight Brussels time)

Implementing Act on main specific components relevant for the NZIA access to markets chapter : Article 29(2) of the NZIA requires the adoption of an Implementing Act listing each of the net-zero technology final products and their main specific components to identify those that may trigger the mandatory application of the non-price criterion of "resilience." This criterion must be applied in public procurement (Article 25), renewable energy auctions (Article 26), and other forms of public intervention (Article 28) when there is excessive dependency on a single source of supply for one of these products or components. Deadline: 20 February 2025 (midnight Brussels time)

Implementing Act on strategic project selection criteria : The NZIA allows for the possibility for net-zero technology manufacturing projects to submit applications to Member States to be granted the status of "net-zero strategic project", which are conferred specific benefits. Article 13(2) of the NZIA requires an Implementing Act is adopted that provides guidance on ensuring uniform conditions across Member States for applying the strategic project selection criteria. This legal empowerment also mandates specific guidance on certain concepts in the selection criteria such as "first-of-a-kind" and "best available technology" manufacturing capacity, as well as "significant manufacturing capacity". Deadline: 20 February 2025 (midnight Brussels time)