The EU-Commission and the Green Deal: Green, green, industry

The EU Commission has presented a draft for a new industrial strategy. It is a matter of competition, digitization, and climate protection. In the energy Park

The EU-Commission and the Green Deal: Green, green, industry

The EU Commission has presented a draft for a new industrial strategy. It is a matter of competition, digitization, and climate protection.

In the energy Park in Mainz water is stored fuel in Tanks, to be produced by means of wind energy photo: Andreas Arnold/dpa

BRUSSELS taz | European industry of digital and green, and their energy consumption is considerably reduced. This calls for the EU Commission in the context of an industrial strategy, which was presented on Tuesday in Brussels. You want to promote the European Green Deal and investment in low-emission technologies.

the new strategy had been hotly debated. Although the new focus on the Green Deal in principle, was not without controversy, became Commissioner for competition, Margrethe Vestager, and Commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton to each other. The Frenchman, Breton calls for less stringent EU rules, in order to create so-called European Champions.

the Background is the dispute over the merger of the railway companies, Siemens and Alstom, which had failed on the no. of Vestager. After that, France and Germany had called for a stronger focus on industrial policy objectives and the international competition. The EU should offer China to stand up to, it said.

The new strategy takes account of this. It promises a Reform of the EU competition rules, a better copyright protection, and a stronger fight against distortion of competition through state aid. Brussels also wants to limit the access to public tenders and EU aid – a clear Signal to China.

the focus of The new strategy is on Decarbonisation, and digitization. The Commission has announced a whole package of measures. Thus, energy-intensive industries will produce in the future, more climate-friendly. The traffic should be "sustainable and smart". Besides, who wants to deal with Brussels to a low-CO2 energy supply and low electricity prices.

The Whole is to be supplemented by a recycling strategy, which will be presented on Wednesday in Brussels. In addition, they announced an Alliance for hydrogen technology, similar to the already-launched battery-Alliance. In addition, the Commission has submitted a Plan for small and medium-sized enterprises. In these EU-wide, around 100 million people, directly to the European industry employed 35 million people.

How it all fits together remains to be seen – because a strategy is not yet a law. Similar to the Green Deal and the digital strategy, concrete measures are to be delivered in the next few months downstream. Only then should show whether Brussels only provides beautiful Headings, but also acts accordingly.

The EU Commission is in any case determined. It's going to be a "radical change" with the aim to manage the "green and digital conversion, and to avoid external dependencies," said Breton. The European industry bring everything to a leadership role, said Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. Brussels wool help.

First reactions were positive. "The start of a change towards a climate-neutral industry in the EU has fallen," said the green MEP Michel Only. The companies were waiting for political signals and the right framework for investment. "This requires an independent and scientifically-based supervision", called for Just.

Date Of Update: 10 March 2020, 18:00
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