The European Union should review and simplify its state aid rules to tackle the risks of unfair competition from theInflation reduction act:the package of 369 billion euros (430 billion dollars) to reduce the deficit and stimulate the production of clean energy in the US. This was stated by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in an intervention at the Collège d’Europe in Brugesin Belgium.
The measure risks creating “unfair competition”, “closing the markets” and “fragmenting distribution chains already tested by Covid”, said von der Leyen, adding that the EU must “both carry out its duties at home and work with the US to mitigate competitive disadvantages». Washington’s industrial policy requires an “adequate response,” said von der Leyen, starting with an adjustment to European rules to “make public investment easier.”
Tensions over the US “anti-inflation law”.
The package launched by the US government has sparked friction between the two sides of the Atlantic, even ending up on the table of confrontation between US President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The EU’s fear is that US legislation, focused on tax breaks and subsidies for the economy greendistort competition and trigger a flight of investments from the EU to the American market.
The same Biden he defended the package and declared that he did not have to “apologize” for the text, even if he was open to some corrections and is trying to avoid an open conflict with Brussels. Von der Leyen calls for EU action to balance the ties, in the form of a review of state aid to facilitate public investment, a recalibration of funding for green technologies and a collaboration with the US to address some of the more “worrying” aspects of the law American. However, Von der Leyen specified that a trade war «is not in our interest. Not in the interests of the Americans.”
Von der Leyen, create club Usa-Ue anti Cina su matter prime
Von der Leyen also called for an agreement with the US for the creation of a raw materials “club”. The goal is to undermine the Chinese monopoly in the sector, making a common front with Beijing. “Today the production and processing of some of the raw materials critical to the green revolution are controlled by a single country, China – he said – Europe and the United States can build an alternative to this monopoly by setting up a materials club first criticisms. The idea behind it is simple: cooperation with partners and allies for procurement, production and processing gives us the possibility to overcome the monopoly».