Mario Draghi, former European Central Bank president, has prepared a report called “The future of European competitiveness” on how the European economy can remain competitive in the face of current global developments. In the report, Mr. Draghi noted that the EU needs a more coordinated industry policy, a common plan for decarbonization, higher investments, and financing to bolster domestic production capacity and compete with the US and China.
Regarding energy-intensive industries, the report stated that Europe will need to deploy a mixed strategy that combines different policy tools and approaches for different industries. According to the report, executing this strategy will require a joint decarbonization and competitiveness plan where all policies are aligned behind the EU’s objectives. Priority areas to be addressed include lowering energy costs for end-users and accelerating the decarbonization of the energy sector. Another priority area is levelling the playing field in sectors more exposed to unfair competition and/or facing more exacting decarbonization targets than their international competitors.
Noting that the proposed recommendations for energy-intensive industries in the report should be integrated into the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal and implemented with concrete measures as a matter of urgency, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) stated that the alignment across different policies is crucial and should be accompanied by sector-specific initiatives to enable the transition of each industry including steel.
