The European Union needs to be “realistic” about being able to resolve its concerns over the US climate law and must prepare its own policy response, Europe’s trade commissioner said.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union needs to be “realistic” about being able to resolve its concerns over the US climate law and must prepare its own policy response, Europe’s trade commissioner said.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Brussels later on Tuesday, Valdis Dombrovskis said EU officials have consistently highlighted “problematic aspects” of the legislation with US counterparts.
EU leaders have been looking at how to respond to President Joe Biden’s climate law, which includes billions of dollars of subsidies and provoked concerns it may lure some production across the Atlantic. A US-EU taskforce was set up to address differences but officials have become increasingly skeptical about the US offering any major concessions.
“We have to be realistic,” Dombrovskis, who is also vice president of the European Commission, told reporters. “This taskforce work will not solve all our problems with the Inflation Reduction Act, so we still need to see what the European policy response should be.”
EU finance ministers gathering in the Belgian capital were due to hear an update on work carried out by the taskforce on Tuesday morning.
Read more: EU Industry Policy Shakeup Must Include Tax Credits, France Says
Dombrovskis added that some delays in the US in implementing guidelines related to the law could buy Europe more time for discussion on “some elements.”
The EU’s economy commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, told reporters on Tuesday that ministers would discuss how to streamline state aid rules, as well as funding common projects, to help the bloc deal with the energy crisis and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“This is essential if we want to strengthen our competitiveness without undermining our internal market and its level playing field,” he said. “It’s not about a subsidies war with other countries or the US. It’s about the strengthening of European competitiveness.”
–With assistance from Jorge Valero and Niclas Rolander.
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