Clean Industrial Deal: supporting EU industry’s transformation
The EU wants to help its industry become more competitive while cutting emissions and to thrive in a way that reflects Europe’s climate ambitions.
Under the Green Deal, the European Union has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. To accomplish climate neutrality, European industry, which is responsible for 20% of emissions in the EU, has to cut its own emissions while still being able to deliver the technologies needed for the low-carbon transition (heat pumps, solar, wind, electrolysers for the production of hydrogen, batteries…).
EU companies are also facing challenges on global markets. To make the low-carbon transition possible in a competitive way, the European Commission presented the Clean Industrial Deal in February 2025. The document focuses on two main sectors: clean technology and energy-intensive industry.
The key industries that need to change
Clean technology sector
Clean technologies will be essential for decarbonising the economy, and their market is expected to triple by 2035. However, the EU’s global market share of the clean tech sector is falling and manufacturing is lagging behind.
The root causes for the EU’s lack of competitiveness in the clean tech sector include high energy prices, global competition (mainly from China and the USA), reliance on imports of critical raw materials and the administrative burden faced by businesses (especially on obtaining permits for starting operations, getting access to finance and receiving support from governments).
Energy-intensive industries
Materials such as iron, steel, cement, paper and chemicals are crucial for manufacturing clean technologies but also for other industries, such as car making and defence. They contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy and are of crucial importance to the EU’s economy.
However, these sectors require a lot of energy and this means their carbon emissions are hard to eliminate. Energy-intensive industries produce the greenhouse gas emissions that are attributed to manufacturing.
Clean Industrial Deal: a strategy for competitiveness and decarbonisation
The aim of the new growth strategy is to incentivise industry to decarbonise, bring down energy prices, boost European manufacturing, reduce dependence on scarce raw materials and address the shortages of workers and skills in strategic industries for the clean transition.
The different elements of the Clean Industrial Deal include:
- an affordable energy action plan, which speeds up the roll-out of renewable energy, accelerates electrification and improves the interconnections of the European energy market;
- boosting demand for clean tech (e.g. by prioritising clean technologies in public and private tenders);
- mobilising over €100 billion to support clean manufacturing in the EU;
- boosting re-use and recycling;
- working together with global partners but also using trade defence tools and the levy to protect EU industry from unfair competition;
- establishing a union of skills to develop workers’ know-how and create quality jobs.
The European Parliament’s reaction to the Clean Industrial Deal
In a resolution approved by the European Parliament in the June 2025 plenary sitting, MEPs welcomed the Clean Industrial Deal and stressed the need to keep European industry strong and competitive while fighting climate change.
MEPs supported new financing tools to invest in clean technology.
To help businesses innovate and switch to cleaner methods faster, MEPs called for simpler rules and faster approvals for permits, especially for small companies and projects. They want less paperwork and easier access to funding.
They also want to make permanent carbon removals a viable option for businesses in sectors where emissions are hard to reduce.
MEPs backed the affordable energy action plan and called for better cooperation among European countries on energy networks and trading electricity. The Parliament pointed out that EU countries have very different rules, which slows down progress.
Modernising electricity grids
In a separate own-initiative report, also approved in plenary in June 2025, the European Parliament put forward ideas on how to modernise Europe's electricity grid infrastructure. The upgrade is needed to accommodate the growing demand for renewable energy. The text calls for significant investments to both modernise the grids and increase transmission capacity across borders.
The importance of enhancing EU grid resilience was clearly shown during the electricity system blackout that occurred in Spain, Portugal and parts of France on 28 April 2025.
Read more on the EU’s actions to reduce energy-related emissions:
