Minister Altmaier: "Updated EU Industrial Strategy a path-breaking comprehensive package for a forward-looking European industrial policy"

Minister Altmaier said: "The updated EU Industrial Strategy is a path-breaking comprehensive package for a forward-looking European industrial policy. We need pioneering technologies ‘Made in Europe’ for a strong, green and digital Europe. They are being generated as we are providing investment incentives in a targeted manner in the context of joint European projects in the fields of battery cell production, microelectronics and hydrogen, and of the GAIA-X project for more digital sovereignty. Now is the time to press ahead with the transformation towards more sustainability and digitisation. This is how we will jointly emerge stronger from the crisis."

The European Commission presented a comprehensive package for an updated European industrial policy today. It announced that it would be taking important decisions and submitting proposals to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry. The Commission also announced that there would be a gradual introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism for the individual sectors and proposals on how industry can have access to renewables-based electricity at competitive prices. Furthermore, the Commission intends to introduce a carbon contracts for difference pilot programme to be able to fund the higher operating costs of climate-friendly key enabling technologies. In this context, the focus is on two areas which are also key for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: steel and hydrogen production.

The updating by the European Commission thus also takes account of central aspects of the non-paper on industrial policy which Germany and France published in February. Like the two countries, the Commission regards industry as an essential sector to accelerate the green and digital transitions.

The European Commission also published the proposal for a Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the Single Market today. In June 2020, the Commission had presented the White Paper on levelling the playing field as regards foreign subsidies and carried out a comprehensive public consultation, on which the new proposal for a Regulation is based. It contains proposals on how to close the regulatory gap and expand the instruments to deal with specific distortions of competition caused by foreign subsidies. To this end, the Commission suggests complementing existing competition policy instruments such as the supervision of abuse of dominant market positions, merger control, and the procurement law.