Source: European Parliament
As announced in the Clean Industrial Deal and by the Commissioner of energy and housing during his structured dialogue in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy on 20 February 2025, the Commission is committed to present an EU fusion strategy this mandate.
The need for an EU fusion strategy is also advocated in the Draghi report[1], and called for by EU’s fusion community. Such a strategy should leverage Europe’s leadership in the ITER[2] project and in fusion technology, in consultation with stakeholders.
The Commission has already started such consultations and in 2024 set up a dedicated Expert Group with representatives from interested Member States to advise on steps towards the development of a specific regulatory framework and options for fostering industrial innovation through fusion research and development.
The Commission is engaging with European fusion industry and research organisations to explore ways for the involvement of private industry, including the possibility to reinforce cooperation and sharing of knowledge with ITER, and to create a European Technology and Innovation Platform.
In this framework, the Commission is preparing to launch a public-private partnership and is working with the European Innovation Council to support commercial fusion start-ups.
Since 2014 , under the Euratom Research and Training Programme, the EUROfusion[3] partnership has played a pivotal role in advancing and coordinating Europe’s fusion research efforts.
Its Research and Development roadmap,[4] which focuses on ITER programme, the demonstration power plant (DEMO), and materials testing facility IFMIF-DONES[5], serves as the foundation for fusion research in Europe, leveraging Europe’s expertise in magnetic confinement fusion.
- [1] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/strengthening-european-competitiveness/eu-competitiveness-looking-ahead_en
- [2] ITER is an international collaboration project developing frontier science in energy technology that aims to demonstrate the technical and scientific feasibility of fusion as a future source of carbon-free energy.
- [3] https://euro-fusion.org/
- [4] https://euro-fusion.org/eurofusion/roadmap/
- [5] International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility — Demo Oriented NEutron Source.