Europe’s industrial base is fundamental to its identity and essential to its competitiveness and resilience.
The Clean Industry Pact is Europe’s new growth strategy aimed at accelerating the decarbonisation and competitiveness of European industry. The Pact seeks to increase sustainable and resilient industrial production in Europe, while simultaneously investing in decarbonisation. Decarbonising energy-intensive industries is essential for achieving climate neutrality.

These industries are of strategic importance for the EU’s resilience, security, and economic prosperity. They form the cornerstone of many value chains by supplying raw materials, processed and intermediate goods to downstream sectors such as automotive, construction, carbon-neutral technologies, engineering products, defence, and aerospace, and are central to the green and digital transitions.

Energy-intensive industries account for 19% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, employ 7.8 million people, and contribute €549 billion in added value.

In his report, Mario Draghi concluded that investments in clean technologies are not progressing fast enough to offer viable business pathways for decarbonising energy-intensive industries and meeting the EU’s climate neutrality goal.

To this end, the Pact introduces a legislative act on the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator, aiming to resolve bottlenecks in industrial decarbonisation licensing and energy access, and to support the creation of pilot markets for the development of clean and resilient European industrial technologies and products.

The European Commission will assess both legislative and non-legislative options. The act will focus on three specific objectives:
(i) Accelerating licensing procedures for industrial decarbonisation;
(ii) Identifying and promoting priority decarbonisation projects and hubs;
(iii) Creating and safeguarding European pilot markets for low-carbon products.

It will also contribute to the sixth priority area of the Clean Industry Pact: ensuring skills, job quality, and just transitions, by embedding this dimension across all goals and actions.

The initiative is expected to align with the EU’s international commitments. It implements policy decisions announced in the Pact and complements existing legislation, such as the Net-Zero Industry Regulation, the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), energy market rules, and trade defence instruments.

In terms of social impact, the measures are expected to support industrial decarbonisation projects within the EU, create regional development opportunities, and maintain – or potentially increase – current employment levels in energy-intensive industries, particularly through reskilling or upskilling efforts.

Our team is available for further information.