Should investments in climate protection increase the permitted deficits and debts of the member states – or should they be subtracted out? The Union can no longer duck away from this question.
“Net-Zero-Industry-Law”: That’s roughly how the convolute should be translated into German, which the European Commission will decide on and present in Brussels on Thursday. The proposal is called the “Net Zero Industry Act” in English, the unofficial new working language, and it envisages a deep intervention in the reality of Europe’s industrial policy. In several sectors that are considered strategically important and essential for the EU’s climate policy goals, a significant proportion should be produced within the Union itself.
This text will pave the way for basic location policy decisions by the largest industrial groups. The scope and political sensitivity of this becomes clear when one considers the changes to the various target values in the draft proposal that have leaked out from the Commission offices to the public in recent weeks. It was sometimes said that in 2030, 85 percent of the wind turbines and batteries required in Europe should also be produced here. In another draft, the 85 percent target applied to wind turbines and heat pumps, while the figure was at least 40 percent for batteries and solar systems.