On Thursday, the European Commission revealed the Net-Zero Industry Act, a long-awaited proposal to boost green technology production in the EU amid an increasingly intense global race.

The new regulation is a key part of the European Green Industrial Plan – the bloc’s response to the US’s $369 billion package of green subsidies – to ensure that by 2030 at least 40% of the country’s net zero technology demand union is produced domestically.

“We need a regulatory environment that allows us to scale up the clean energy transition quickly,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. rack. “The Net-Zero Industry Act will do just that. It will create the best conditions for those sectors that are crucial for us to reach net zero by 2050.”

Technologies identified as “strategic” for decarbonising the block include solar, onshore and offshore wind, batteries and storage, carbon capture, biogas/biomethane, and renewable hydrogen.

The law proposes several important actions to encourage investment in the domestic production of these technologies. These include the acceleration of permits, the increase of a skilled workforce, a designated platform to enable cooperation between the Commission and Member States, and regulatory sandboxes that Member States can use to test innovative technologies.

In addition to the Net-Zero Industry Act, the Commission also issued her Proposal for critical raw materialswhich aims to strengthen the supply of the critical minerals needed to produce green technology and reduce dependence on imports.

Both regulations await approval by the European Parliament and the Council before they can enter into force.

“Demand is growing in Europe and globally, and we are now taking action to ensure we can meet more of this demand with European supply,” von der Leyen noted.