A workshop on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) Innovation Fund for the Ceramic Industry with the European Commission took place in Cerame-Unie offices on 11 October 2019. The main priority of this meeting was to deliberate about the process of the Innovation Fund.

The Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programmes for innovative low-carbon technologies. It is one of the key funding tools for delivering the EU’s economy-wide commitments to become climate neutral by 2050. The main goals of the Innovation Fund is to guide the right financial incentives to low-carbon projects, to  increase competitiveness and growth by investing in EU businesses to become global green technology leaders, and to overall support the spread of low-carbon technologies across EU Member States .

This workshop not only provided CU members the opportunity to present some of their plans on their low-carbon projects to representatives of DG CLIMA, but it also allowed CU members to receive feedback and advice on how to apply for this fund. The European Commission is expected to launch the first call for proposals of the Innovation Fund in mid-2020. Regular calls are to be followed up until 2030.