EU proposes Net-Zero Industry- and Critical Raw Materials Acts

The European Commission publishes proposals for the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act to establish a legal framework to protect and support the green technology industry.

The goal of the Net-Zero Industry Act is for the Union’s strategic net-zero technology manufacturing capacity to reach or approach at least 40% of the Union’s annual demand by 2030.

The Net-Zero Industry Act will consist of seven pillars to strengthen the competitiveness of the European net-zero technology ecosystem. In particular, the Regulation creates the necessary conditions to promote net-zero technology projects by simplifying administrative and approval procedures and defining strategic net-zero projects (Pillar 1). In addition, the regulation creates the conditions for increasing CO2 feed-in capacity (Pillar 2) and incentivizing demand for net-zero technologies (Pillar 3). The 4th pillar is dedicated to securing a skilled workforce, the 5th pillar to promoting innovation, the 6th pillar to creating a governance structure, and the 7th pillar to monitoring the implementation of these measures.

Regarding the Critical Raw Materials Act, the European Commission notes that access to critical raw materials is essential for, among other things, the establishment and proper functioning of the European electric vehicle battery value chain. The law includes not only an updated list of critical raw materials, but also a list of strategic raw materials important for technologies related to Europe’s green and digital ambitions, as well as defense and space applications. It also sets clear targets for domestic capacity along the supply chain for strategic raw materials and for diversification of EU supply by 2030. The benchmark targets state, for example, that no more than 65% of annual EU consumption of a strategic raw material at a relevant processing stage should come from a single non-EU country.