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VCI comments on the EU Commission's industrial plan

From the point of view of the German Chemical Industry Association, the plan from Brussels is a good impulse, but it also contains pitfalls.

 

The European Commission's "Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age" (GDIP), which was presented by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the beginning of February, is intended to secure a leading role for European industry on its path to climate neutrality and improve its competitiveness. However, the "Industry Plan" remains vague for the time being as an impetus for discussion, according to the VCI. The association sees it as positive that the Commission is not primarily focusing on new funding pots, but wants to make existing programs more efficient and rely more on international cooperation than on confrontation and protection. On the other hand the association is concerned that the "industry plan" could lead to a planned economy in which targets for building up production capacities are to be met. In the VCI's view, there is a risk here of an overly "narrow definition and limitation of products or technologies worthy of support," a simplification into "black or white," "clean or dirty." Product and process innovations were the result of complex innovation networks and value chains, and better framework conditions for industry as a whole are the key to competitiveness and successful transformation. But the Green Deal approach, in all its ambition, complexity and small-scale nature, has become a barrier to investment for companies - large and small - rather than a beacon for investment decisions, the VCI said. Europe wants to change too much at the same time, it said, overburdening citizens and business. There is a lack of clear priorities and a focus on the essentials.
 
Further information: VCI position compact on the European Green Deal

 

Sources:

  • VCI (Feb. 16, 2023)
  • Photo: © picture alliance / EPA

 

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