The European Commission (EC) adopted this Wednesday a law to decarbonize industry and accelerate innovation and industrial competitiveness in the region, known as the Industrial Accelerator Act.
In a statement, the European executive explains that the legislative proposal aims to increase demand for low-carbon and Europe-made products and technologies. This, with a view to promoting domestic manufacturing, the growth of bloc companies, and the creation of jobs in the European Union.
Thus, it pairs the promotion of the bloc’s economic competitiveness with the decarbonization of key and energy-intensive sectors such as steel, cement, and chemicals, and with the boost to domestic production – “made in Europe” – of clean technologies.
This law, the Commission explains, “aims to increase value creation in the EU, strengthening our industrial base in the face of an increasingly unfair global competition context and rising dependencies on non-EU suppliers in strategic sectors.”
In 2024, manufacturing accounted for 14.3% of the EU’s GDP, and the present law aims to increase this contribution to 20% by 2035.
In reaction, WWF’s European division says the legislative proposal is “a first step” in the EU’s industrial transformation, notably highlighting the decarbonization of industries such as cement, steel, and chemicals. It also welcomes the definition of measures to stimulate demand for low-carbon products and clean technologies.
However, WWF warns that “more is needed to truly shape the EU’s industrial future.”
One of the dimensions of the legislative proposal is to give priority to low-carbon and “made in Europe” products within the framework of public procurement. WWF says that, according to the proposal, at least 25% of the steel used in public buildings must be low-carbon steel. However, it notes that, although this is an “important first step,” public procurement is only a small part of steel demand in Europe.
“To create meaningful and long-term markets for clean materials, complementary measures that also target private consumption will be essential,” say the environmentalists, who also call for an increase in carbon taxes. With this, they want a “clear and predictable price” that “drives innovation and gives companies and investors the confidence to invest in clean technologies.”
“The Commission has finally accelerated the pace of clean industry by opening the doors to creating demand for clean products,” says Camille Maury, a policy officer for industrial decarbonization at WWF-UE, in a note.
“However, to win the race to decarbonization, the Commission and lawmakers will need to push to strengthen the low-carbon criteria and to design truly green labels for steel and cement that exclude fossil-fuel-based production,” she argues. Nothing of this will be possible, Maury warns, “without regulatory stability and a strong and predictable carbon price.”
The Commission’s proposal also provides for the simplification and digitalization of licensing for industrial projects, but WWF, while recognizing the importance of licensing efficiency for the industrial transformation, says that this cannot happen at the expense of nature.
The organization states that all industrial projects must continue to be subject to environmental impact assessments, and the sites where they will be implemented must be carefully defined so that environmental risks are as small as possible.
The legislative proposal, the “Industrial Accelerator Act,” will now be debated and negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU before being officially adopted and entering into force.
