A Clean Industrial Deal for competitiveness and decarbonisation in the EU

Wednesday the European Commission presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a bold business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of Europe’s industry. The Deal will accelerate decarbonisation, while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe. This Deal positions decarbonisation as a powerful driver of growth for European industries. This framework is expected to drive competitiveness as it gives certainty and predictability to companies and investors that Europe remains committed to become a decarbonised economy by 2050.

The Deal focuses mainly on two closely linked sectors: energy-intensive industries and clean tech.

1. Energy-intensive industries as they require urgent support to decarbonise and electrify. The sector faces high energy costs, unfair global competition and complex regulations, harming its competitiveness.
2. Clean Tech  at the heart of future competitiveness and growth as well as crucial for industrial transformation.

There will be €100 billion in short-term relief to supercharge climate-friendly manufacturing in the EU.

The strategy is seen as a response to mounting competition from China and the U.S. and argues Europe can win on green technology.

The Commission’s press release is available here.

Understandably there has been considerable reaction. Below you will find links to several industry associations and civil society:

Coalition for Energy Savings: The Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal, published today, lacks meaningful recognition of the role of energy efficiency in boosting the EU’s industrial competitiveness and decarbonisation, while the parallel Action Plan for Affordable Energy foresees actions to leverage energy efficiency to cut energy bills for households and businesses.

Efficient Buildings Europe: The European Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal launched today rightly acknowledges energy efficiency within the Affordable Energy Action Plan, a cornerstone of the EU’s industrial competitiveness. The Communication and the Affordable Energy Action Plan both highlight that promoting energy efficiency is crucial to lowering energy bills – a key condition for the greater resilience and competitiveness of European industry.

European Environmental Bureau: While the new industrial deal does not derail the Green Deal, it weakens its holistic approach, using competitiveness as a false pretext to justify unacceptable concessions to polluters, warns the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).

European Alliance to Save Energy: The European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) welcomes the publication of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID) and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy (Action Plan). We recognize them as important steps towards Europe’s industrial decarbonisation, increased competitiveness and energy security. As representatives of Europe’s energy efficiency actors, we support the prominent role given to energy efficiency in the Action Plan, acknowledging its critical importance in ensuring affordability, competitiveness, and decarbonisation. We also welcome the recognition of energy efficiency in the Clean Industrial Deal but stress that it must be further elevated as a core pillar of industrial competitiveness. We emphasize that the effective implementation of the “energy efficiency first” principle is a key element to address the challenge that European industry faces in terms of the cost of energy.

Eurofer, the European Steel Association: The Clean Industrial Deal, unveiled today by the European Commission, acknowledges the strategic role of the European steel industry and the existential challenges it faces. Yet, concrete solutions are either left open for later decisions, such as those on global steel overcapacity and loopholes in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), or addressed with incomplete measures, as in the case of energy prices. Without structural solutions to these issues, laudable initiatives on lead markets, local content and circular economy risk being insufficient to turn the tide, notes the European Steel Association (EUROFER).

Glass for Europe: The Clean Industrial Deal and the Action Plan for Affordable Energy presented yesterday by the European Commission fail to introduce concrete actions proportional to the urgency and scale of the crisis faced by the flat glass sector and other industries.