EU must react to 'distortions' of competition from USA's Inflation Reduction Act

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen applauds during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the European Parliament, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 - Copyright Jean-Francois Badias/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

By Euronews with AFP

Published on 04/12/2022 - 21:32

Comments

The multi-billion US programme to promote climate-friendly technologies in America is prompting the EU to find similar incentives

The EU must take "rebalancing" measures to smooth out the "distortions" of competition caused by the massive American subsidies of Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.

Speaking at the College of Europe in Bruges in Belgium von der Leyen said that the bloc "must take action to rebalance the playing field where the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) and other measures create distortions. In other words: we need to do our homework here in Europe and at the same time, we have to work with the United States to mitigate competitive disadvantages."

The US programme Inflation Reduction Act is a roughly €350 billion investment plan to build a new green economy, particularly in clean energy production. Subsidies and tax credits are linked to companies using US products or producing in the US.

Watch the video in the player above.

Comments