According to a report, the EU Commission wants to set production targets for solar cells, wind turbines, batteries and heat pumps to the member states in order to avoid dependence on China. By 2030, the EU should be able to produce 40 percent of its annual requirement for emission-free technologies itself, the “Handelsblatt” reported on Saturday, citing a draft for the “Green Deal Industrial Plan” for climate-friendly restructuring of the economy.
The European Union is highly dependent on concentrated imports for certain net-zero technologies and their components, such as “photovoltaic technologies and their components” from China. So far, the entire European demand has been partly covered by Chinese imports. In addition, Europe’s position in global competition for heat pumps and wind turbines is threatening to deteriorate.
At the beginning of February, the EU Commission proposed a package of measures for climate-friendly technologies, with which the competitiveness of the European Union should be secured and large subsidy packages such as the package from the USA should be countered. In detail, the rules for state aid are to be relaxed, unused funds from the Corona aid pot used differently, eco-projects approved more quickly and trade agreements to secure scarce raw materials are to be pushed. The focus of the EU Commission is primarily on manufacturers of wind turbines, solar cells, batteries, electric cars and from the hydrogen sector.
