BRUSSELS, March 15 (Xinhua) — The European Union (EU) aims to produce 40 percent of its own clean technology by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.
“The global market for net-zero technologies is set to triple by 2030. In other words: the race is on. We have to pull together if we want to stay ahead. This is what the Green Deal industrial plan is all about,” said von der Leyen to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act, two cornerstones of the Green Deal Industrial Plan, will be proposed this week by the European Commission.
The goal of producing 40 percent of the EU’s clean tech by 2030 falls under the Net-Zero Industry Act, which aims to speed up and simplify processes for industry, as well as provide funding.
Under the Critical Raw Materials Act, more ores and minerals will be extracted in Europe. The EU wants to increase its processing capacity to at least 40 percent of its annual consumption and recover critical materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel from batteries.
“These minerals power phones and electric vehicles, chips and batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. They cannot function without critical raw materials. And the demand for critical raw materials will increase dramatically in the coming years and decades,” she explained.
To ensure that EU industry can deliver on these ambitions, the EU is also keen to promote research and development.
“To improve competitiveness, we need to increase our research spending target, ensure that regulation enables businesses and reduce unnecessary reporting obligations,” says von der Leyen.
The current target is to spend three percent of the EU’s gross domestic product on research and development by 2030. However, von der Leyen and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU will propose raising this target in an attempt to maintain competitiveness.
Cutting red tape should also improve the EU’s competitiveness. Proposals must be submitted by the autumn with the goal of reducing the reporting requirements by 25 percent.
Source: sn.dk