‘Do something smart to reduce the bureaucracy’: Implementing the NZIA at Intersolar Europe 2024

June 20, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
nzia
“We are trying to find something with a reversed burden of proof and collaboration with member states,” said Kersten Jorna. Image: PV Tech.

Ensuring effective legislation, but not getting bogged down in bureaucracy, could make or break the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which is set to come into effect this year.

This was the opinion of panellists at the ‘Implementing the Net Zero Industry Act, views from Member States and the European Commission’ panel, held this afternoon at Intersolar Europe 2024 in Munich. The NZIA is Europe’s attempt to encourage greater manufacturing of clean energy products, such as solar panels, within its borders, amid well-documented concerns about the financial unviability of European manufacturing compared to facilities in China.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

However, making sweeping changes must not come at the cost of imposing complex or unclear regulations on manufacturers, according to Kerstin Jorna, the European Commission’s director general for the international market, industry, entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises.

“We are trying to find something with a reversed burden of proof and collaboration with member states,” said Jorna. “We tried to do something smart to reduce the bureaucracy.”

Dr Beate Baron, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BWMK) deputy director general, agreed, noting that this process will need to be amended and re-amended in the future, to ensure the EU’s standards are suitable for the realities of the solar manufacturing sector.

“The crucial thing is that we need a process,” said Baron. “If we determine criteria, it’s quite clear that we will develop them further … and make it a long-term process. [The goal is] to make it a roadmap and to make it clear to other markets watching us that this is a long-term perspective we’re following.”

Panellists also called for greater collaboration between actors in the European solar sector, both across the supply chain, with manufacturers and off-takers needing to speak to one another, and across the various global markets.

“It’s important to look at the whole supply chain,” noted Joan Groizard, director general of the Spanish Energy Agency (IDEA). “It’s important for the buyers of the product to look European, and suppliers to look at Europe … it won’t make sense if Europe is only putting the nameplate [in place] and nothing before that.”

By working more closely with other companies, Groizard continued, Europe could effectively leverage its “inherent advantage” over overseas markets, most notably China, with regard to compliance with sustainability criteria.

“When you look at supply, we saw that we have some room to make sure that we [can implement] higher environmental standards,” agreed Alexandre Israelian, a French civil servant. “We implemented a more ambitious threshold for carbon footprint [calculation] and [are] changing the methodology to calculate the carbon footprint.”

However, Israelian noted that implementing such changes are “the trickiest question,” highlighting again the challenges associated with making such top-down reforms across a continent.

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.
7 April 2026
Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE
Intersolar Middle East and Middle East Energy are coming together to present the mega energy event for the MENA region. From April 7–9, 2026, Dubai World Trade Centre will host Intersolar Middle East Exhibition and Conference alongside the 50th Middle East Energy. Intersolar Middle East focusses on the areas of photovoltaics, PV production technologies, and energy storage systems. The combined event expects to attract more than 45,000 trade visitors from around the world and feature 1,900+ exhibitors.

Read Next

Premium
October 24, 2025
Marcel Suri explores the datasets that will help improve the accuracy of PV output estimation and drive better performance.
October 23, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in Europe in Q3 2025 fell below €35/MWh, reaching €34.25/MWh, according to LevelTen Energy.
October 23, 2025
Aviva Investors and Astatine have announced an €800 million (US$928 million) investment in renewable energy and decarbonisation solutions.
October 22, 2025
Ingeteam’s Mauro Rivola discusses the rapidly growing appetite for co-located solar and storage in Southern Europe.
Premium
October 21, 2025
PV Tech Premium spoke with academic and industry experts about the rising tide of cybersecurity concerns in Europe's solar energy sector.
October 20, 2025
New federal policies in the US will 'cloud' the country’s renewable energy sector, according to a webinar hosted by Wood Mackenzie.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
Solar Media Events
March 24, 2026
Lisbon, Portugal