The EU does not lack technology, talent, or industrial capability. But too often, it lacks scale and cross-border integration. Fragmented energy planning and investment raise costs, slow down industrial transformation, and weaken resilience.
Ahead of this year’s Benelux Day (4 September), the Benelux Business Roundtable (BBR) in a new policy paper presents the Benelux+ Energy Market as a potential solution to this challenge. By coordinating cross-border energy infrastructure across electricity, hydrogen, natural gas, CCUS and heat, the Benelux+ region can lower system costs, strengthen security of supply and support clean industrial investments.
The Benelux+, which includes the Benelux countries, North Rhine-Westphalia, Northern France, and the Greater Region, forms one of Europe’s most developed concentrated industrial regions. An integrated energy system would help turn this industrial powerhouse into a competitive advantage for the clean economy.
We therefore call upon the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, at their next Benelux Summit, to launch a Benelux+ Competitiveness Initiative as the first regional implementation of the European Council’s objective of One Europe, One Market.
Its first flagship project should be the creation of a fully integrated Benelux+ Energy Market accompanied by a joint roadmap for cross-border infrastructure, permitting, and strategic industrial investment, developed in close partnership with North Rhine-Westphalia and Northern France.
Such a decision would not simply strengthen the competitiveness of North-West Europe’s industrial heartland. It would demonstrate how Europe can translate political ambition into practical implementation.