The clean energy race - EU fights back with new green industry and critical raw materials legislation

Resumo

Two new EU proposals aim to set the bloc on track to meet its net-zero goals. They include the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act. The proposals are seen as key to reining in the green industry's global front-runner, China. "For too long," Europe thought "the market would take care of everything itself," says the EU's Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans.

There is one clear target for both pieces of legislation: ending Europes reliance on Beijing, which is by far the largest producer of major clean energy technologies.

The Commission also wants to ramp up sourcing, processing and recycling for 16 so-called strategic raw materials. Projects that receive a special "strategic project status would see permitting timeframes slashed to just one year; projects below that level would be greenlit within and outside of the bloc. And the EU is relaxing state aid rules.