About
The Clean Industrial Deal is set to be a transformational business plan, where the aim is to increase sustainable and resilient production in Europe.
The plan focuses on mainly two closely linked sectors; energy intensive industries and the clean-tech sector. The background for focusing on these sectors is that the energy-intensive industries require urgent support to decarbonize, electrify, as well as confront high energy costs, unfair global competition and complex regulations. The clean-tech sector is also considered to be the heart of future competitiveness and necessary for industrial transformations, circularity and decarbonization.
The ambitions of the Clean Industrial Deal is also to make the EU the world leader on circular economy by 2030, and confirm the EU’s dedication to its climate goals by offering clear business incentives for industry to decarbonise within Europe.
The Clean Industrial Deal is composed of six business drivers:
- Affordable energy,
- Lead markets,
- Financing,
- Circularity and access to materials,
- Global markets and international partnerships, and
- Skills and quality jobs.
Affordable energy
Average energy prices in Europe are higher than for other trading partners, and access to affordable energy is therefore a cornerstone of the Clean Industrial Deal. To reduce energy costs in the EU, the Commission underlines the need to accelerate electrification, and the transition to clean, domestically generated energy, complete the internal energy market with physical interconnections, and use energy more efficiently. To do so, an Action Plan for Affordable Energy was adopted 26 February 2025. The bulk of the Action Plan is envisioned to be delivered in 2025.
Boosting clean supply and demand
The Commission also wants to boost clean supply and demand to build a business case for decarbonized products. The Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act (IDAA) will introduce resilience and sustainability criteria to foster clean European supply for energy-intensive sectors. The Act intends to set out regulations for the development of a voluntary label on the carbon intensity of industrial products, based on a simple methodology with ETS data and building on the CBAM methodology. The Commission will start with a label for steel, and a label for cement will be created under the Construction Products Regulation. The consultation periode for the IDAA was between 16 April and 9 July, and the Commission adoption is planned for Q4 2024. The Commission will also make a proposal to revise the Public Procurement Framework in 2026
In addition to this, the Commission wanted to adopt a delegated act on low carbon hydrogen in Q1 2025. As of August 2025 the delegated act was adopted by the Commission and transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council for acceptance or rejection. The Act was published in the Official Journal 21 November 2025 and Date of Effect is set to be 11 December 2025. The Commission would also like to de-risk and accelerate the uptake of hydrogen production in the EU, and will launch a third call under the Hydrogen Bank by the end of 2025 with a budget up to EUR 1.1 billion.
Financing – public and private investments
The clean transition of the economy will require major investments. The Commission will act to (i) strengthen EU-level funding, (ii) leverage private investment and (iii) enhance the effectiveness of State aid. The Commission will propose an Industrial Decarbonisation Bank (planned Q2 2026) aiming for EUR 100 billion in funding. The funding will be based on funds in the Innovation Fund, additional revenues from parts of the ETS and revision of the InvestEU.
The new Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework is expected to enable necessary and proportionate State aid that attracts private investment, with simplified and flexible rules. On 25 June 2025 tge Commission adopted the State aid Framework accompanying the Clean Industrial Deal ('CISAF'). CISAF sets out the conditions under which State aid for certain investments and objectives would be considered compatible with the internal market; such as measures (i) accelerating the rollout of renewable energy, (ii) facilitating industrial decarbonization, (iii) ensuring sufficient manufacturing capacity in clean technologies, and (iv) to de-risk private investments.
The Commission will also recommend to Member States that their corporate tax systems support a clean business case.
Circular economy and access to materials
The Commission states that Europe should be more strategic about producing raw and secondary materials – both to improve affordability and accessibility, but also to reduce dependencies from third country suppliers. The Commission will therefore prioritise the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act, and set up a EU Critical Raw Material Centre to jointly purchase raw materials on behalf of interested companies and in cooperation with the member States.
The Commission will also adopt a Circular Economy Act in Q4 2026, to accelerate the circular transition and build on the single market. The Act is supposed to enable the free movement of circular products, secondary raw materials and waste, foster a higher supply of high quality recyclates and stimulate demand for secondary materials and circular products while bringing down feedstock costs. The measures of the Act is intended to be complementary to and facilitate the rolling out of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation.
Global markets and international partnerships
The EU cannot realise its clean industrialization objectives without partnerships on the global stage, and according to the Commission, the industry faces unfair global competition notably due to the export of domestic overcapacities from other countries at highly discounted prices. The Commission therefore underlines the importance of signing, conclude and implement pending Free Trade Agreements and take forward ongoing negotiations for new ones. Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships will complement these agreements through a faster, more flexible and more targeted approach.
The Commission is also proposing to substantially simplify CBAM, reducing administrative burden on industries and their supply chains while continuing to incentivise global carbon pricing. They will also present a comprehensive CBAM review report in the second half of 2025 where they will assess the scope of the CBAM extension to additional EU ETS sectors and downstream products. The report will also assess the inclusion of indirect emissions across all CBAM sectors considering the indirect costs of electricity for EU producers.
To ensure a level-playing field for the EU industry, the Commission will propose measures to ensure that foreign investments in the EU better contribute to the long-term competitiveness of EU industry. The Commission will adopt guidelines on key concepts underpinning the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (Q1) and continue to make fast and efficient use of Trade Defence Instruments such as anti-dumping or anti-subsidy duties where necessary.
Skills and quality jobs
The clean and digital transition means shifts in the workforce and new requirements for skills. The Clean Industrial Deal is meant to commit to a just transition that delivers quality jobs and empowers people, building on their skills, while promoting social cohesion and equity across all regions. The Commission therefore lay out a Union of Skills 5 March 2025 as an overarching skills strategy to give people the skills they need to make the most of their potential, and to ensure that employers can access the expertise they need for a vibrant and competitive economy. A Skills Portability Initiative (2026) will also facilitate that a skill acquired in one country is recognised in another. In addition, The Quality Jobs Roadmap (Q4 2025) will support Member States and industry in providing decent working conditions, high standards for health and safety, access to training and ensuring fair job transitions for workers and self-employed, as well as provide support to workers in the transition.
Implementing the Clean Industrial Deal across sectors
The Clean Industrial Deal will serve as a framework for engaging in a dialogue with industries, with attention for the SMEs, to develop sectoral transition pathways.
Work is ongoing on several sector specific plans in 2025:
- The Industrial Action Plan for an Automotive Sector
- A steel and metals action plan
- A Chemicals Industry Package
- A Sustainable Transport Investment Plan
- A Bioeconomy Strategy
Who does it impact?
The EU Member States and a large number of stakeholders within various industries.
Status: In progress
The Communication was presented 26 February 2025.
Relation to other initiatives and regulations
The Clean Industrial Deal is related to a lot of different regulations and initiatives from the EU. Among them is the Critical Raw Materials Act, CBAM and the European Green Deal.
Participants
The EU Member States.
The regulations and initiatives may also be relevant for the EEA countries and various stakeholders.
Thommessen's comments
The Clean Industrial Deal is part of confirming the EUs dedication to its climate goals, while also underlining the importance of competitiveness, economic growth and security within the EU. The Clean Industrial Deal consists of a long list of actions that the Commission sees as important in transforming the European industry with focus on decarbonization and clean tech. The plan addresses the entire value chain and wishes to see the business drivers in context. The Clean Industrial Deal is an overarching strategy, which lists detailed actions for the Commission to implement. The flagship actions are planned to take place during 2025 and 2026. After the presentation, the Clean Industrial Deal received mixed reactions. Some were happy to see that the European climate obligations still applies in a time of geopolitical tension and emphasize that decarbonization represents a structural way to reduce energy costs and increase energy security. The industry is in general positive to the plan, with EU focusing on innovative industry and competitiveness and strengthening the internal market. Environmental interest are concerned that the shift in focus on competitiveness and strengthening the industry will weaken the climate obligations and actions for reaching net zero.
Although the Clean Industrial Deal – along with previous plans from the EU – is a high level plan which needs to be followed up by numerous legislative acts, the overall trend in this plan is that the EU is maintaining its ambitions in respect of climate, but that it is adjusting the course somewhat and putting increasing emphasis on security and global competitiveness compared to what they did in e.g. the EU's Green Deal from 2019. From a Norwegian perspective, it is particularly interesting to see that it is explicitly mentioned in the communication from the EU that inclusion of permanent carbon removal and storage from atmospheric or biogenic sources is still under consideration.