European industrialists are calling for deeper political union in the EU on energy, including harmonised tax incentives, in a bid to overcome obstacles to the bloc’s industrial competitiveness and ensure a green transition.

Peter Herweck, new chief executive of Schneider Electric, the industrial software and equipment group that ranks in the top 100 European companies by revenue, said a deeper political union “would resolve the energy dilemma that we have in Europe?.?.?.?We have 27 governments. There is no unity in coming up with a programme.”

His comments in an interview with the Financial Times follow a call from the big business lobby group, European Round Table for Industry, late last month for “a single Energy Union with a common market, harmonised permitting and tax systems, and a simple, stable and predictable regulatory framework to facilitate investment”.