EU tries to prevent industrial decline in green transition | – #prevent #industrial #decline #green #transition
BRUSSELS, 10 March (Reuters) – European Union is a global leader in reducing carbon emissions, but is also moving to ensure the green transition does not turn it into an industrial wasteland, with a series of measures to be announced next week.
Europe has the world’s two largest economies USA and China-related industrial competitiveness, boundless that some say is now in need of a major renewal unit 30 years after creating its market, it caused great concern in the bloc.
Next week’s announcements include legislative proposals to facilitate local production of essential supplies and streamline grants for green projects, as well as address the divisive issue of state aid. They come ahead of a summit of EU leaders on March 23-24 to discuss and guide the EU’s response.
Many in the EU USA 369 of President Joe Biden billion dollar green subsidies offer of the Inflation Reduction Act USAHe is worried that it could drive companies out of Europe that enable the transition to clean technology. Giant at the expense of Europe.
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Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal markets commissioner, said this week that both the US and China are trying to take industrial capacity away from Europe and thus make Europe dependent on their own industries in the future: “Or, to put it more bluntly, they are busy. in the subsidy race. Not us, but them.”
The EU wants to see itself as a champion in the fight against climate change, with carbon neutrality by 2050 and tough 2030 emissions targets, ahead of efforts in the US and China on that front.
But while it has strong positions in certain green sectors, it risks getting ahead of technology.
PATENT LAG
According to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, for patents in key future digital and green technologies Europe It lags behind the United States.
Supplying minerals vital to the green transition is another challenge, with China processing almost 90% of rare earths and 60% of lithium, a key element for batteries.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine reinforced a lesson learned in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely that the EU should not use personal protective equipment or oil and gas to a single supplier for essential materials trust can’t.
The pandemic has already prompted calls for EU “strategic autonomy” – although debate has erupted over whether that means diversifying supply or producing essential goods within the bloc.
First, the EU execution of the strategic raw materials that the government consumes in the region on Tuesday 10Legislation to allow extraction and processing of 40% of its needs by 2030 offer will do.
In the latter case, the Commission believes that trade deals with the two largest lithium producers, Chile and Australia, could ensure direct supply and reduce dependence on China.
It will also make proposals to streamline permitting for green projects, which can currently take years, and encourage investment in net-zero industrial “valleys”.
Then subsidies and a possible future Europe There is the difficult question of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, an idea first mooted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year.
Both topics are divisive. France and the German-backed Commission has proposed relaxing state aid rules to allow green investment, which elsewhere for net-zero technologies offer may be eligible for subsidies.
Some EU countries complain that they cannot afford the sums offered by the EU’s two largest economies.
Breton argues that the sovereign fund co-borrowing way will help to create a level playing field between EU countries that do not have the ability to provide the same state aid with funding.
But the northern members of the EU, led by Germany, are already 800 of the bloc billion euro (847.60 billion dollars) emphasized that there are still unused funds from the pandemic recovery fund and warned against new general debts.
Countries such as the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic and Ireland have also warned of the risk of excessive, blanket subsidies and the EU unit they said that the work of improving the market would be more effective.
The EU, which is often called the crown of European integration, started its activities in 1993 unit While its market has been a game-changer for the free movement of goods, it has done less to stimulate other parts of the economy.
“If you look at what we have today in terms of the single market for goods, it’s highly effective, it makes the EU very competitive globally, and we should be looking to do the same for services and especially digital,” Irish trade minister Simon Coveney said. said at a meeting with EU colleagues on Friday.
($1 = 0.9438 euros)
Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Added by Jan Strupczewski report; Edited by Mark John and Susan Fenton
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-10 17:22:55
Source – reuters
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