Faced with rising energy costs, increasing geopolitical tensions, and fierce global competition, the European Commission presented the Clean Industrial Deal, a comprehensive strategy to align climate ambition with industrial competitiveness. Framed as a transformational business plan for Europe, the Deal proposes a coordinated and investment-driven approach to support energy-intensive and clean tech sectors, while securing Europe’s resilience and global standing.

Key elements of the Deal include:

• Affordable energy: Through the Affordable Energy Action Plan, the EU aims to lower energy bills by accelerating clean energy rollout, completing the internal energy market, and promoting electrification.
• Boosting demand for clean products: The Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act will introduce sustainability and EU-preference criteria to public and private procurement, boosting demand for clean European products.
• Financing the clean transition: Over €100 billion will be mobilised through new frameworks such as the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, an Industrial Decarbonisation Bank, and amended InvestEU Regulation to support clean manufacturing and innovation.
• Circularity and access to materials: Measures such as the upcoming Circular Economy Act, EU Critical Raw Materials Centre, and demand aggregation mechanisms aim to strengthen material security and increase the EU’s circular material use rate to 24% by 2030.
• Acting on a global scale: Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships (CTIPs), a simplified Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and robust trade defence measures will ensure a level playing field in a globally competitive environment.
• Skills and quality jobs: Initiatives like the Union of Skills and a Quality Jobs Roadmap will address labour market shifts, ensure fair transitions, and invest in a workforce prepared for the green and digital economy.

The Clean Industrial Deal integrates decarbonisation, digitalisation, circular economy, and industrial resilience into a unified European growth strategy. It builds on stakeholder dialogues and targets a cleaner, more competitive and socially fair future for European industry.