10 February 2023

Opening remarks by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel following the special meeting of the European

...And this especially against the backdrop of the Inflation Reduction Act. That was the main topic of the debate. I have presented to the Leaders our Green Deal Industrial Plan....

The discussion on competitiveness in the European Union is first of all rooted in a very wide consensus: We need to reach climate neutrality by 2050, and we want the European clean-tech industries to help us get there. We are very strong advocates of fair competition also on the global stage. This is particularly true in the clean-tech sector. And as I said, we welcome competition in this area. In fact, we have a head start with the clean-tech industry. We have an innovative and competitive industry. We have a plan, that is our roadmap to 2050 – Fit for 55. And we have financial and policy support with NextGenerationEU. So the setting is good.

Now, we need to preserve our edge – that is the challenge right now – on the development, manufacture and roll-out of clean technologies. And this especially against the backdrop of the Inflation Reduction Act. That was the main topic of the debate. I have presented to the Leaders our Green Deal Industrial Plan. You know the main work strands. The first one is a regulatory environment that incentivises clean-tech investments. The second one is funding, both through a targeted and temporary flexibilisation of state aid, and EU-level funding. Of course, the aim of this investment is to also unleash private capital. The third element is skills. And finally, the fourth work strand is an active trade policy to strengthen our supply chains.

I know that the public debate focuses a lot on state aid flexibility and EU funding. That is all right. But I want to emphasise that in fact all four strands need to work hand in hand. So, we need a stable and simple regulatory environment if we want state aid and EU funding to trigger investments. And this also requires a well-functioning European capital market. And likewise, the speed to train new qualified workers is as important as the speed to issue permits. And access to the necessary critical raw materials is as crucial as access to finance. So the overall picture has been discussed at this Council. The Commission will now table the concrete legal proposals mid-March, in time before the European Council of next March....

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