Ireland assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July 2026, with a programme centred on competitiveness, European values and security.
The Irish Presidency policy programme sets out an ambitious agenda for the second half of 2026, including regulatory simplification, industrial competitiveness, energy security, resilient supply chains, open and fair trade, and the circular economy.
For Europe’s carbon and graphite industry, the Presidency comes at an important moment. European producers continue to face high energy costs, intensifying global competition, regulatory complexity and growing pressure on critical industrial supply chains.
ECGA therefore welcomes the Presidency’s commitment to strengthening European competitiveness, industrial resilience and economic security while advancing the clean energy transition.
Strengthening European industrial competitiveness
The Irish Presidency has identified regulatory simplification and a more integrated Single Market as central elements of its competitiveness agenda.
ECGA supports efforts to advance the Omnibus simplification packages and establish a more coherent and predictable regulatory framework. Reducing unnecessary administrative burdens, while maintaining high environmental and social standards, can help unlock investment, accelerate permitting and support innovation in European industry.
The Industrial Accelerator Act will be another particularly important file. The Presidency has identified it as a flagship initiative intended to support industrial renewal, accelerate decarbonisation and strengthen supply chains in strategic sectors.
As outlined in ECGA’s contribution to the call for evidence on the Industrial Accelerator Act, the legislation must recognise the materials and processes that make Europe’s strategic industrial value chains possible.
For batteries, this means ensuring that measures supporting European production extend beyond cells and finished batteries to include battery anode materials. For low-carbon steel, it means recognising graphite electrodes as an indispensable input for electric arc furnace production.
Europe cannot build resilient industrial ecosystems by supporting only selected parts of the value chain.
Affordable, secure and low-carbon energy
Reliable and competitively priced electricity remains one of the most urgent challenges facing Europe’s energy-intensive industries.
ECGA therefore welcomes the Presidency’s intention to advance the European Grids Package and related energy-security measures. Modernising Europe’s electricity networks, accelerating grid connections and improving permitting will be essential to delivering secure and affordable energy while supporting industrial electrification and decarbonisation.
ECGA has consistently highlighted these requirements in its position on the European Grids Package and its position paper on the EU Action Plan for Affordable Energy. These papers underline that European energy-intensive industries need access to stable, predictable and competitively priced low-carbon electricity if they are to continue investing and producing in Europe.
Without competitive energy conditions, European producers risk losing market share to imports manufactured under less demanding environmental conditions, thereby weakening Europe’s industrial base without reducing global emissions.
Decarbonisation and protection against carbon leakage
ECGA is also closely following discussions on the proposed extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Temporary Decarbonisation Fund.
These instruments have the potential to support industrial decarbonisation and strengthen European competitiveness. However, their design must provide effective protection against carbon leakage and avoid exposing European producers to costs that are not faced by international competitors.
Any transition away from free emission allowances must therefore be carefully sequenced and accompanied by credible and effective carbon-leakage protection.
The need for an approach that reflects industrial realities is also highlighted in ECGA’s recent position on the ETS benchmarking review for 2026–2030. The paper explains that graphite production depends on highly energy-intensive, high-temperature processes for which commercially viable decarbonisation alternatives remain limited in the short and medium term.
Climate ambition must be accompanied by realistic technological pathways, suitable infrastructure and investment conditions that allow European industry to decarbonise without losing its international competitiveness.
From policy priorities to practical action: the BASTILLE project
The Irish Presidency’s emphasis on the circular economy, energy security and resilient supply chains is also closely connected to ECGA’s ongoing involvement in the BASTILLE project.
BASTILLE – BAtteries: barriers and enablerS To IreLand’s circuLar Economy – is funded under the Irish Environmental Protection Agency’s Research Programme and led by Trinity College Dublin. ECGA is a project partner with responsibility for supporting communication, dissemination and stakeholder engagement.
The project investigates the technical, regulatory, societal and supply-chain factors affecting battery circularity in Ireland, using battery-grade graphite as an important case study. It brings together stakeholder input and international experience to develop an evidence-based implementation roadmap and policy white paper for Ireland.
BASTILLE demonstrates how research, industry cooperation and stakeholder engagement can translate circular-economy ambitions into practical policy recommendations. Its work on battery collection, traceability, processing, recycling and the reintegration of recovered materials is directly relevant to Europe’s wider objective of building more circular and resilient battery value chains.
The project also illustrates the importance of considering graphite when developing battery-recycling policies. Recovering metals alone will not deliver a complete circular battery value chain: graphite, which represents a substantial part of the battery anode, must also be collected, processed and returned to productive use.
Resilient value chains and strategic materials
The Presidency’s emphasis on economic security, reliable international partnerships and diversified supply chains is highly relevant to the carbon and graphite sector.
Natural and synthetic graphite, together with specialised carbon and graphite products, are indispensable to battery value chains, electric arc furnace steelmaking, advanced manufacturing, energy infrastructure and numerous strategic and defence applications.
A resilient European industrial base will require both stronger European production and diversified relationships with reliable international partners. EU policy should therefore encourage investment, promote fair competition and recognise the strategic importance of complete carbon and graphite value chains.
ECGA looks forward to engaging constructively with the Irish Presidency, the European institutions and other stakeholders over the coming months.
The association will continue advocating for policies that strengthen European industrial competitiveness, support effective and realistic decarbonisation, advance circular-economy solutions and secure access to the materials required for Europe’s clean and resilient industrial future.