Clean energy, hot race. Leyen: The EU must fight for technologies

It is up to the European Union whether green technologies will be produced in Europe or in China, wrote the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in a letter to the leaders of EU countries. In the document, the head of the European Commission announced a number of actions aimed at strengthening the European economy in the global race for clean technologies.

In his letter, sent before Thursday's Community summit, devoted to, among others, competitiveness, von der Leyen warned that the European Union must not allow a repeat of the mistakes that allowed China to gain a dominant position in sectors such as solar energy, batteries and electric cars.

“How our own policies have contributed to China's rise in green technologies should serve as a cautionary tale,” the president wrote. She added that the EU must act with “relentless focus and effort” to avoid falling into new dependencies – including in the area of ​​critical raw materials, on which Europe is increasingly dependent on China.

The letter was written in the context of tensions between China and the West, which intensified after Beijing announced restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, which are crucial for the modern economy, in early October.

In Thursday's document, seen by PAP, von der Leyen announced a number of new initiatives that are intended to strengthen the EU's competitiveness vis-à-vis its competitors, especially China.

These included the Industrial Accelerator Act, a package of measures supporting strategic industrial sectors, especially energy-intensive industries and clean energy technologies, which the EC is to present by the end of the year. As the Commission announced earlier, this legislation aims, among other things, to: condition foreign investments in the EU on whether they bring benefits to the Community, e.g. in the form of technology transfer.

The President also announced an acceleration of the review of regulations on CO2 emissions in the automotive sector, new support instruments for battery producers, including the Battery Booster package worth EUR 1.8 billion, and the establishment of a decarbonization bank, which will ultimately provide EUR 100 billion for industrial projects related to emission reduction. It will be financed, among others, by: from revenues from the ETS system.

Von der Leyen also drew attention to the need to protect the EU industry against “unfair competition” and announced that by the end of the year she would propose extending the carbon border tax mechanism (CBAM) to additional products, as well as introducing stronger anti-dumping measures against overproduction from third countries.

In her letter, von der Leyen referred to the conclusions of a report by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on the EU's competitiveness. She emphasized that, as Draghi noted, a strong and competitive economy is the foundation of both Europe's prosperity and independence. She warned that if the EU “makes bad decisions”, the “slow crisis” that Draghi warns about may come sooner than we expect. (PAP)

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