Sustainability & Energy - vdma.eu

The electricity tax rate for the manufacturing industry will be permanently reduced to the European minimum. The law is a first step towards effectively reducing electricity costs.

The three industry associations Bitkom, VDMA and ZVEI are warning of a regulatory standstill in the German battery market. They are calling for a moratorium on the implementation of the new Battery Implementation Act.

Automatisierung macht das Recycling von Elektroschrott effizienter und sicherer. Beim Treffen der VDMA-Fachverbände wurden innovative Lösungen für die Kreislaufwirtschaft vorgestellt.

The EU sustainability omnibus package was adopted with the urgently needed adjustments. A strong signal for more legal certainty and practicable solutions for our small and medium-sized industry.

The EU Commission is taking the right path with the environmental omnibus. It will finally bring real relief for small and medium-sized industrial companies.

Within the VDMA, hydrogen is not only of great interest for the VDMA Power-to-X for Applications, but is accompanied by a whole range of areas with diverse activities.

Seven leading business organizations are calling on the German government not to jeopardize its own goals for the EU omnibus package on sustainability. What is needed is a 1:1 implementation of the plans, not abstention in the trilogue.

With the ResourceEU plan, the EU Commission wants to make Europe less dependent on raw material imports from China. In particular, the development of Europe's own production and processing capacities for critical raw materials is essential in the medium term.

The CBAM regulation phase will begin on 1 January 2026. From then on, only CBAM registrants will be allowed to import CBAM goods. For companies in Germany find more information on registering here.

MATERIAL HUB is a free and publicly funded online platform for publishing and researching material data according to technical and (environmental) regulatory aspects. https://www.materialhub.de

The VDMA interest group materialHUB is working on incorporating current environmental and sustainability aspects and optimizing the user-friendliness of research and data input.

The EU Parliament has taken the right step with the Deforestation Regulation, now it's up to the trialogue. In order for there to finally be planning certainty, the relief proposed by the Commission must be adopted swiftly.

Anbieter, die Informationen zu Materialien, Werkstoffklassen und Anwendungsgebieten teilen, profitieren von der Sichtbarkeit ihrer kommerziellen Angebote und Forschungsaktivitäten. Erfüllen Sie den steigenden Informationsbedarf Ihrer Kunden.

The results of the COP 30 summit are disappointing - above all, there is no process for phasing out fossil fuels. Nevertheless, the Paris process for global climate protection remains relevant.

Description

The international climate summit took place between 10-21 November in Belém, Brazil

The European Parliament has postponed the extremely important reduction of bureaucratic demands on companies (Omnibus I) - a fatal sign for European industry. Nine major associations are calling on EU and federal politicians to find a solution.

An ambitious EU climate target for 2040 also needs the right framework conditions for industry. A clear and uniform European position on the climate target sends the right signal for global climate protection measures.

VDMA welcomes the EU initiative to reduce bureaucracy in environmental legislation. However, it calls for bolder, more practical steps to relieve the burden on European industry, promote climate protection and ensure competitiveness.

On 17 October 2025, the European Union published Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, introducing significant amendments to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Three political groups in the European Parliament are blocking the urgently needed simplification of sustainability reports. Europe's competitiveness must not become a plaything of ideological interests.

The EU Council needs an agreement on the 2040 climate target so that Europe can continue to play a leading role in climate protection. It is therefore all the more important that a clear position is adopted quickly.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs' monitoring shows: The energy transition can and must become more efficient. However, neither the study nor the ten key measures provide a clear concept for the future.

The agreement on CBAM simplification is an important step, but the extension to downstream sectors should be taken off the table. And the technical specifications are still missing.

The planned EU Deforestation Regulation urgently needs to be revised and its launch postponed by at least two years. It is poorly crafted and bureaucracy at its best, criticizes the VDMA in a letter to the Commission.

The EU's omnibus package on sustainability is intended to protect small and medium-sized industrial companies from excessive reporting obligations. This goal must no longer be watered down in the European Parliament.

With the ‘Sustainability Talks’, the VDMA is organising a web series on current and relevant sustainability topics for the mechanical and plant engineering industry. You can find an overview of the topics and dates here.

For companies that process and transport lead and lead-containing alloys, a new EU regulation has brought about a change in the regulatory framework.

In future, the Environment and Sustainability department will provide ten topic-specific newsletters for targeted information on environmental and sustainability topics.

The ECHA has published a proposal to restrict chromium(VI) substances. Comments on this proposal can be submitted as part of a public consultation. The VDMA asks affected companies to participate.

The Chemicals Package includes the 6th Omnibus (‘Chemicals’), a proposal to provide ECHA with additional resources and an action plan, including ‘Providing Clarity on PFAS’.

Legislators must not ignore the reality of everyday industrial life, and this also applies to the EU Commission's Chemicals Action Plan.

The European Union remains ambitious in climate protection with a new emissions reduction target for 2040.

The EU wants to remain ambitious on climate protection. An ambitious target is the right thing to do, but it requires simple legislation and sufficient investment.

The EU Commission announced that it would simplify the rules on State aid in order to promote the development of clean energy, decarbonization and net-zero technologies.

The EU omnibus package is intended to significantly reduce the bureaucratic burden on companies. Now the package must no longer be torpedoed. Bureaucracy must not become an obstacle to innovation.

Nine major business associations from Germany have issued a joint appeal warning that progress on cutting red tape in Europe should not be jeopardized.

Here you will find an updated overview of the progress of the project after the third face-to-face meeting on 12.03.202 (update no. 4).

The first year under the EU Battery Regulation - The new German Battery Law Implementing Act (BattDG): What do producers and manufacturers need to consider?

Under the headline “The new EU Packaging Regulation – What does this mean for the mechanical engineering industry?”, the VDMA held an online event on May 27, 2025. Here are the key points in brief.

Morgan Stanley analyzes the ramp-up of a green hydrogen economy in the US and Europe and advises caution when investing, as green hydrogen will remain expensive compared to other sources for the foreseeable future.

ECHA has been tasked by the European Commission to develop a proposal for the restriction of various chromium(VI) substances. The proposal was published at the end of April 2025 and can be commented on from mid-June.

The CO2 border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) should be simplified. This is also urgently needed: Small and medium-sized companies in particular must be exempted.

This was the motto of the VDMA Energy Networking Day held in Frankfurt on May 7 and 8. Around 80 members from several trade associations came together to discuss strategically relevant issues relating to energy and climate policy.

The Centre for European Policy provides a good overview of the current state of the German energy sector with reference to natural gas and hydrogen as important energy sources and formulates recommendations for policy makers

A division of the German electricity bidding zone would be a drastic change to the system and would call into question many projects that have already been initiated. Rapid and consistent grid expansion is crucial in order to counter existing system bottlenecks.

The amendment to the German Federal Emission Protection Ordinance (4th BImSchV) by the German legislator brings clarity and relief both for the placing on the market of smaller electrolysers below 5 MW and for large-scale plants.

Good news from Brussels: the suspension of several reporting obligations gives companies the capacity to act in order to focus on important areas of transformation.

VDMA Members from Austria and Bavaria met in Salzburg to discuss the implemtation of the European Union's new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)

Have you already calculated your company's climate footprint and defined ambitious climate targets? But what specific measures can a company take to achieve these goals?