Industry will be driver of European decarbonisation, French minister says

(EurActiv, 26 May 2023) In an interview with EURACTIV, French Industry Minister Roland Lescure underlined the role of big industries in reaching the bloc’s climate targets, through the key pieces of legislation moving currently being negotiated at the EU level.

Industry is an important lever for decarbonising the European economy, to tackle climate change while reindustrialising the country and the continent, the minister told EURACTIV. Thanks to public aid, industry will, according to Lescure, be a key driver in the decarbonisation of the continent.

In mid-March, the European Commission presented its Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which aims to make the EU less dependent on external countriesfor supplies of resources critical to the energy transition.

Discussions on the CRMA have made “good progress”, and a “broad consensus” between member states should enable an agreement to be reached under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, i.e. before 1 July 2023, according to Lescure.

However, a number of points remain to be clarified: France, Germany and Slovenia, among others, are defending sectoral targets for each raw material covered by the regulation.

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EurActiv, 26 May 2023: Industry will be driver of European decarbonisation, French minister says