The European Union must become the global destination for green technologies. This is one of the stated objectives of the Clean Industry Pact, presented on Wednesday by the European Commission.

The idea is to make decarbonisation a factor in the continent’s growth and reindustrialisation. The plan is designed to enable the 27 Member States to make the transition to a low-carbon economy and at the same time keep up pace with their Chinese and American competitors.

“The Clean Industrial Pact represents a paradigm shift in European industrial policy. For the first time, there is talk of European preference, particularly for public procurement, to encourage green technologies made in Europe,” explains Neil Makaroff, director of the Strategic Perspectives think-tank.

“For the first time, we are also going to invest in value chains on a European scale, particularly where there is a gap. Typically, we have no lithium refining capacity, when in fact we need it to produce batteries,” he adds.

Reducing energy costs

The institution is therefore proposing to mobilise more than €100 billion in the short term. It also wants to offer businesses predictability. The aim is to reduce energy costs for industry, starting with energy-intensive ones such as steel and cement, and also households.

The institution also wants to take action in the clean technologies sector, which will be at the heart of competitiveness and growth.

According to Cleantech for Europe, which represents some twenty green companies, the pact is a step in the right direction.

“I think it instils a significant dose of pragmatism into the Green Deal, by recognising that private companies will have to do it and implement it to transform our economy”, says Victor Van Hoorn, Director of Cleantech for Europe.

Promoting access to resources at the best price

The Commission also wants to secure access to critical raw materials, and therefore proposes the introduction of group purchasing or to enable companies to pool their requests.

It is also calling on the EU to diversify its supply chains and turn to reliable international partners. The Commission stresses that it will not hesitate to use its trade defence tools to protect European companies in the event of unfair competition.

However, some people are questioning the purpose of this plan. Critics fear that this strategy is a roundabout way of unravelling the Green Pact, the flagship project of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first term in office.

In response to these concerns, the Commission points out that its objective is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and that it is maintaining its ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. It also stresses its desire to achieve a 90% reduction in these emissions by 2040.

To underline the argument that decarbonisation is a lever for growth, the Commission points out that plans for renewable energies should generate more than 3.5 million jobs by 2030.