Categories: World

France to push ‘Made in Europe’ strategy at European Union summit

close Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for January 16

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

France wants the European Union to adopt a “Made in Europe” industrial strategy in response to the U.S. scheme of subsidies for green investment, to keep industrial firms from leaving Europe and reduce members’ dependence on outside suppliers.

EU leaders are to discuss such industrial policy for the 27-nation bloc at a summit on Feb. 9-10 in Brussels, worried that Washington’s $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act subsidising products from batteries to electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines, will draw companies away from the EU.

“The implementation of an ambitious and robust European industrial policy is therefore essential today. The French authorities propose that it take the form of a ‘Made in Europe’ strategy,” France said in a paper seen by Reuters.

ALMOST HALF OF EUROPEAN UNION POPULATION REPORTS THEIR STANDARD OF LIVING HAS DECLINED, SURVEY FINDS

EU leaders agreed last March, just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine which sent energy prices soaring, that Europe must cut its dependence on outside suppliers of energy, critical raw materials, semiconductors, drugs and food.

The French paper called for urgent measures in particular to retain Europe companies involved in solar panels, batteries, hydrogen and critical raw materials, noting the “Made in Europe” strategy should be based on four pillars.

European Union flags flutter outside its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 28, 2022.
(REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo/File Photo)

The first would be EU targets for cutting a dependence on outside suppliers and setting production goals by 2030 in key sectors which would be regulated by EU laws, like the bloc did for semiconductors with the Chips Act.

The EU would also have to simplify and speed up the granting of permits for the installation of new production sites and overhaul its energy market to ensure European industries have access to affordable power, the paper said.

The second would be urgently changing EU rules on assistance governments can provide to companies so that emergency state aid for firms, already allowed under the COVID-19 pandemic, could continue for targeted sectors on a temporary basis.

PARIS PREPARES EIFFEL TOWER TRIBUTE TO MAHSA AMINI AS PROTESTS CONTINUE

State Aid And EU Funding

The state aid could come as subsidies or tax credits, the paper said, to provide clarity to businesses as they make investment decisions now.

The third pillar should be EU funding for sensitive sectors, which would help equalise the uneven fiscal power for supporting industries among EU countries. This could take the form of a fund that uses joint, and therefore cheap EU borrowing, which would then be passed on as cheap loans to individual countries.

Paris also proposed creating an “emergency fund” that would repurpose money the EU has already agreed to raise for other goals, to help the EU invest in strategic projects for European industry on top of national state aid.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Finally, the EU should set up by the end of 2023 a new “sovereignty fund”, which would take over from the emergency fund to target sensitive sectors.

The last pillar of the strategy would be a fully mobilized trade policy, including recent trade defence instruments, the paper said.

The French paper said such measures, if announced by EU leaders at their summit on Feb 9-10, would reassure businesses of the EU’s determination to strengthen the economic attractiveness of the EU and prevent firms from moving outside Europe, which is a real risk now.

Share

Recent Posts

Pope Francis addresses Ukraine, Middle East in Christmas Day message: ‘May the sound of weapons be silenced’

close Video The saints lived heroic lives and people are desperate to learn their stories,…

2 hours ago

Hawaii crime boss dies of overdose in federal custody: medical examiner

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for December 25 Fox News Flash top headlines…

2 hours ago

Azerbaijan Airlines plane headed to Russia crashes hundreds of miles off course, dozens feared dead

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for December 25 Fox News Flash top headlines…

4 hours ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene wants death penalty for migrant who allegedly set woman on fire on subway: ‘Finish him’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is calling for the swift trial, conviction, and execution of…

4 hours ago

Former defense official makes earth-shattering UFO revelation as unexplained drones leave millions on edge

close Video Drone expert sounds alarm on mystery drone sightings: There's a ‘larger’ issue here…

8 hours ago

How presidents have spent their Christmases in office: From Hawaii to Mar-a-Lago

Presidents have historically developed their own Christmas traditions as they make their unique marks on…

8 hours ago