Energy Intensive Industries provide direct employment to around 2.6 million people and make products which are the foundations of critical and strategic value chains for the EU economy and society.
In May 2022, the European Commission launched REPowerEU, an ambitious plan including measures on energy savings, diversification of energy supplies, and accelerated roll-out of renewable energy. While most of the financial resources required for the implementation of REPowerEU were budgeted under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Commission proposed to increase the RRF financial envelope with €20 billion in grants from the sale of EU Emission Trading System allowances currently held in the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).