EU Clean Industrial Deal: €100bn to accelerate green manufacturing

The EU plans to mobilise €100 billion to accelerate clean tech adoption and increase demand for decarbonised manufacturing products through its newly launched Clean Industrial Deal.

Presented yesterday – at the same time as sweeping cuts in sustainability reporting requirements – the deal aims to make decarbonisation a competitive advantage for Europe’s hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, automotive and chemicals.

It includes the deployment of financial support for renewable and clean tech projects, as well as from industrial companies looking to decarbonise their operations. Funds will be deployed through several mechanisms, including a new Industrial Decarbonisation Bank derived from the Innovation Fund and with additional revenues from the EU’s carbon tax (EU ETS) and a revised InvestEU.

In addition, the Commission plans to adopt a new Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework that will simplify and accelerate the approval of State aid measures for renewable energy, industrial decarbonisation and clean tech.

This will be supported by new financing instruments developed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), including a ‘Grids manufacturing package' to provide de-risking support to manufacturers of grid components, a pilot programme of counter-guarantees for power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by SMEs and energy intensive industries, and a ‘CleanTech guarantee Facility’ under the Tech EU programme powered by InvestEU.

Reforming procurement to increase demand for low-carbon products

The Clean Industrial Deal also aims to support demand for the EU’s low-carbon industrial products by introducing sustainability, resilience, and ‘made in Europe’ criteria in public and private procurement from 2026. 

At the same time, the EU will create a voluntary carbon intensity label  for industrial products, starting with steel in 2025, followed by cement – with the goal of informing consumers on the carbon footprint of these products and allowing decarbonised manufacturers to charge a premium. 

“The demand for clean products has slowed down, and some investments have moved to other regions. We know that too many obstacles still stand in the way of our European companies from high energy prices to excessive regulatory burden. The Clean Industrial Deal is to cut the ties that still hold our companies back and make a clear business case for Europe,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Reducing reliance on importing fossil fuels

Recognising that energy costs are a growing burden on EU industry, the Deal comes with an Action Plan on Affordable Energy that aims to lower energy bills by speeding up the roll-out of clean power, accelerating electrification and strengthening transmission networks. 

The Commission notes that these actions will help the EU “cut dependence on imported fossil fuels”.

In the same spirit, the Clean Industrial Deal places a strong focus on circularity to reduce exposure to “unreliable” non-EU suppliers: a Circular Economy Act is meant to be adopted in 2026 with the goal of achieving circularity on 24% of critical materials by 2030.