At the opening of WindEurope 2026 in Madrid, the European wind industry launched the Madrid Call to Action – a set of 10 concrete policy measures designed to accelerate electrification and strengthen Europe’s energy security.

The call comes at a decisive moment. Wind already delivers around 20 percent of Europe’s electricity, and the European wind value chain employs some 440,000 people across the continent. In 2025 alone, the sector invested EUR 45 billion in new capacity. Yet electricity still makes up less than a quarter of Europe’s total energy consumption – a gap the Madrid Call to Action aims to close.

Ten steps from crisis to confidence

The Madrid Call to Action is structured around three priorities: boosting electricity supply, connecting that supply to demand, and empowering demand itself.

• To boost supply, the industry urges EU leaders to fast-track permitting by treating wind as an overriding public interest and applying tacit approval for the next nine months; to award at least 80 percent of wind bids in auctions to end artificial scarcity; and to repower ageing wind farms, which can triple output with fewer turbines.
• To connect supply to demand, the call recommends prioritising grid connections for mature, strategic projects and clearing out the so-called zombie projects clogging the queue; scaling up grid equipment manufacturing through framework contracts; and multiplying EU grid funding by five to crowd in private finance.
• To empower demand, the industry proposes zero VAT on heat pumps and electric vehicles; prioritising electrification in low and medium-temperature industrial processes; permanently cutting taxes on electricity so home-grown power becomes the cheapest power; and simplifying State aid for industries switching to renewables through power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Building on the Copenhagen Call to Action

The Madrid recommendations build directly on the momentum from last year’s Copenhagen Call to Action, launched at WindEurope 2025 in Copenhagen. That call set out three steps to strengthen Europe’s energy security and competitiveness – focused on faster permitting, improved auction design and accelerated electrification – and placed wind at the heart of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.

Where Copenhagen framed the ambition, Madrid adds the toolbox: ten readily available actions that governments can implement now.

Also read: Copenhagen Call to Action: Three steps to strengthen energy security and competitiveness