The viability of industry takes precedence in the EU

22.04.2024 14:09

According to analyst Radovan Geist, the plans of the European Commission up to 2029 do not place emphasis on the green transformation of agriculture and industry. The Secretary General of the Association of Industrial Unions and Transport, Andrej Lasz, claims that industry can bring solutions for protecting the environment and is already contributing to reducing the carbon footprint. Slovak industry is dependent on the import of raw materials from countries outside the EU, but industry is working on solutions for the security of raw material supplies.

Andrej Lasz was a guest on the programme Komentáre dňa on the RTVS 24 channel, where he addressed the topic of the European Union's green plans in the coming years. Plans for the next term of office have leaked from the European Council. By 2029 the European Commission wants to focus more on supporting the performance of industry and the green transformation appears less in the document. According to Lasz's words, it will probably be industry that comes up with green solutions, just as it has in the past.

"I personally believe that within a few years industry will come up with solutions that may be able to reverse this warming and the crisis we have there, so we are certainly working on it in industry,"

says Andrej Lasz, Secretary General of APZD.

An equally serious topic in the document is also the security of raw material supplies, on which Slovak industry too depends. At present, when the production of aluminium has stopped in Slovakia, it is necessary according to Lasz to realise that practically every industrial sector in Slovakia needs this raw material.

"That topic overall is called raw material self-sufficiency, and I personally believe that the European Union should take steps so that we are able to produce everything in Europe at the end of the day. Even though we may buy it from Asia as long as it is cheaper, but if not, then we need to be able to produce it at home as well,"

adds Lasz.

You can learn more in the programme Komentáre dňa on RTVS 24.