The European Commission has once again launched a major promise of reindustrialization, this time under the guise of green manufacturing. On Wednesday, February 27th, the Commission announced its ambitious Clean Industrial Deal, a €100 billion package to promote ‘clean’ production and emissions reduction.
Rather than a solid strategy, this measure is an expensive attempt to repair the damage caused by previous Commission policies, which have weakened Europe’s industrial fabric in favor of an ideology-based environmental agenda.
The new plan is presented as a lifeline for traditional industries, offering financing for decarbonization and developing clean technologies. In practice, however, it is a massive transfer of public money that will not solve the structural problem that has led to business relocations and the loss of global competitiveness.
The financial backbone of this plan is the Industrial Decarbonization Bank, funded with €20 billion from the EU Innovation Fund and €30 billion in voluntary contributions from member states. This is supplemented by a reform of the InvestEU program, which aims to attract €25 billion in private investment and another €25 billion in projected revenue from the carbon market.
But this financial scheme does not hide the reality: we face a policy that relies exclusively on subsidies and protectionist regulations. Instead of allowing industry to regain autonomy through cheaper energy and a lower tax, the Commission insists on a strategy where businesses remain dependent on public money and artificially favorable contracting conditions.
European Commissioner for Industry, Stéphane Séjourné, made this clear:
We are going to rethink the logic of public procurement to include criteria of sustainability, resilience, and European preference.
In other words, the goal is to impose a regulatory, competitive advantage rather than fostering a productive and self-sufficient business ecosystem. The math is simple: more requirements equal less capacity for free development.
Expensive energy and empty promises
One of the biggest obstacles to European competitiveness remains the high cost of energy, a direct consequence of forced green transition policies. The European Commission acknowledges this problem and has proposed an Affordable Energy Action Plan, which promises to accelerate the deployment of renewables and improve electrical interconnections. However, these measures ignore the root of the problem: dependence on intermittent sources (such as solar energy in some regions) and the elimination of reliable alternatives such as nuclear energy and gas.
In her Wednesday Antwerp speech, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged the severity of the situation:
Production costs have increased, especially for energy-intensive industries. Demand for green products has dropped, and some investments have relocated to other regions.
However, instead of correcting a clearly failing energy policy, the EU insists on more subsidies and compensation mechanisms that fail to address the core issue.
Adding to this is the joint procurement strategy for critical raw materials, inspired by the Covid-19 vaccine acquisition model. Séjourné explained it bluntly: “We need to do with lithium and cobalt what we did with Covid vaccines.” In other words, it is another centralized scheme where European states assume the risks instead of fostering a competitive and dynamic market.
The Clean Industrial Deal also includes reductions in climate bureaucracy to ease the regulatory burden on businesses. It is estimated that the number of companies required to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will be reduced by 80%, while those subject to the EU Green Taxonomy will see a 90% reduction. This reveals a clear division within the European Commission between those beginning to acknowledge the harmful effects of overregulation and those still determined to impose an artificially controlled economic model.
Despite these relaxations, the overall scheme remains unsustainable. Von der Leyen insists that the green transition will be a source of employment, stating that “by 2030, the EU’s renewable energy targets will generate over 3.5 million new jobs.” However, this claim ignores that many jobs will be heavily subsidized and not necessarily economically productive. And it does not compensate for the destruction of traditional industries impacted by green policies.
Europe faces a dilemma: continue betting on a model based on subsidies, bureaucracy, and environmentalist regulations, or adopt a pragmatic approach that ensures affordable energy, industrial competitiveness, and sustainable employment without reliance on public money. So far, the Clean Industrial Deal looks more like a smokescreen to cover up past damages rather than a real solution for reindustrializing the continent.
