Hydrogen and pandemic prevention key areas for EU research cooperation, Germany says

The production of green hydrogen and prevention of pandemics are prime examples for promising research cooperation in the EU, German education minister Anja Karliczek said on her first official meeting with European colleagues under the aegis of Germany's EU Council presidency. "Excellent research, education and innovation are the keys for a sovereign, resilient and sustainable Europe," Karliczek said, stressing that the coronavirus pandemic had visibly demonstrated the need for stronger partnerships in science. Besides strengthening research cooperation in the health sector, a joint initiative for exploring and developing green hydrogen production could prove a major opportunity for common European approaches, the minister added. "Europe should be the world-beating innovation leader, key market and provider of green hydrogen technology," she argued. The European Commission has already presented a European hydrogen strategy and Germany will closely collaborate with Portugal and Slovenia, its successors in the rotating EU Council presidency, to keep the topic on the top of the agenda in 2021, Karliczek said, adding: "Team spirit is needed here."  

Together with six other European countries, Germany has launched an initiative to greatly accelerate the progress of green hydrogen production in the EU and making the synthetic gas a pillar of the European energy transition. The government presented a national hydrogen strategy in June that aims at making the country a global leader in producing and using the synthetic gas that has been dubbed "tomorrow's oil."