European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also coordinates European space policy and therefore has ties with the European Space Agency. It has oversight duties in relation to the Joint Research Centre and the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements, as well as similar projects.

The committee's current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Adina-Ioana Vălean.^[1]^[2]

Energy policy[]

One major area of activity for the committee is energy policy, safety, and efficiency. They monitor compliance with the Euratom Treaty around nuclear waste disposal. The Paris Agreement and, more recently, the launch of the European Green Deal have put climate change and the energy transition center-stage. Policies to support clean technologies such as renewable energy or hydrogen have been advanced through the committee.^[3]

Curiosities[]

In the past, as well as the other three areas of responsibility which it still has, the ITRE committee also dealt with transport matters. European Union transport policy is now, however, covered by the Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism.

Regulations[]

As of March 2014 ITRE committee is the lead charge for regulations dealing with "European single market for electronic communications". The proposals were put forward by Neelie Kroes. A collective of NGOs considered this regulation could damage Net neutrality.^[4]^[5]