The EU presents its strategy to accelerate green technologies. The European Commission announced today its plan to improve Europe’s competitiveness in green technologies, a fast-growing market facing China and the United States. The plan aims to support clean energy sectors, such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and heat pumps, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, build energy sovereignty and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia.
The European Commission wants to secure a significant share of this market, which is expected to triple to €600 billion per year by 2030, by providing regulatory support to these sectors.
A draft regulation for a zero-emission industry was announced in January by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Originally scheduled to be presented on Tuesday, the presentation of the text was postponed to Thursday due to a tug of war over whether to include nuclear power, a decarbonized technology that divides member states.
Nuclear power, a role in the EU’s green technology acceleration strategy?
According to the latest draft version consulted by AFP, nuclear power will be mentioned in the draft regulation, which is an important political victory for France and a dozen other EU countries, including Poland and the Netherlands, which rely on this source of energy, in the face of anti-nuclear power, led by Germany.
Securing supplies of critical raw materials
A second draft regulation, also unveiled Thursday, aims to secure supplies of critical raw materials essential to European industry. Both proposals were prepared by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The EU aims to provide 40% of its needs with its own plants. To achieve this, the plan includes simplifying and accelerating procedures and permits for industrial plants, as well as facilitating financing.
Environmental criteria for public tenders
The plan innovates by adding environmental criteria to public tenders, a provision that could in some cases give an advantage to European suppliers, with higher prices but taking better account of their ecological impact.
The European Commission has already adopted last week a text facilitating state aid for projects that contribute to reduce CO2 emissions in the European Union. At the same time, it intends to respond to the concerns of its manufacturers regarding their growing needs for raw materials.
Targets for Europe in its strategy to accelerate green technologies
The first objective is that the EU should be able to extract 10% of its consumption of strategic raw materials from its territory by 2030. The second objective is that the EU does not depend on a single third country for more than 70% of its imports for each of the strategic raw materials.
Positive consequences of this orientation
If these objectives are met, it would allow the EU to strengthen its security of supply of strategic raw materials, while stimulating innovation and job creation in the raw materials sector in Europe.
However, concerns remain about the environmental implications of extracting these raw materials. It is important that extractive projects are subject to strict environmental and sustainability standards to minimize their impact on the environment and ensure a sustainable future for future generations.
