Around 97 percent of the raw materials required for the climate and digital revolution come from third countries. New Brussels proposals change almost nothing.
“We have a plan, a Green Deal industrial plan, to make Europe the home of clean technology and industrial innovation,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on January 17 at the Davos World Economic Forum. Two months later, on Thursday, the Commission presented two pillars of this plan, namely: where should the raw materials come from to master this double turning point? And how does the Union intend to promote the key industrial sectors?
Bottom line: the Commission is proposing dirigiste targets and protectionist interventions in several industrial sectors – but this will only marginally change Europe’s exorbitant dependence on overseas suppliers. And it will be very expensive: due to higher prices and the necessary state investments.