Delivering on the European Green Deal A Private Sector Perspective 2025

TABLE 5 Recommendations: permitting Challenge Recommendations Public sector Private sector Strategic planning of technology permitting –Continue identifying technologies of strategic importance to the green transition during their early commercialization. –Understand the permitting needs for these technologies. –Plan permitting processes ahead of the technology reaching market maturity. –Continuously assess the potential permitting needs of technologies in R&D. Central permitting orchestration –Create a central platform to enable exchange of best permitting practices. –Establish a single point of contact for all permitting-related matters. –Apply a pan-European perspective to analyse permitting needs of technology ecosystems (e.g. energy systems). Improving baseline for all European permitting processes –Review existing industrial and infrastructure permitting processes and identify the core elements that apply across sectors. –Develop a technology-agnostic permitting baseline valid across member states. –Identify sector-specific deviations from the baseline. –Develop sector-specific sub-processes to complement the baseline. Digitalization of the permitting processes –Digitalize workflows of standardized processes. –Develop a set of standard input forms and documents. –Develop a central platform for the management of all permitting activities. –Set clear rules and timelines. –Deploy AI to expedite screening of applications. –Include public consultation in the digital workflow. Effective public consultations –Provide access to digital platforms for all parties involved in the consultation process. –Nominate public officials to proactively engage impacted communities. –Collect feedback and integrate lessons learnt. Continuous learning –Establish a culture of sharing best practice and lessons learnt. –Build a database of best practices and lessons learnt. –Improve processes and tools based on learnings. Delivering on the European Green Deal: A Private Sector Perspective 21