Industrial Strategy

The EU has introduced several initiatives intended to support industrial competitiveness, decarbonisation and investment in low-carbon technologies. These include the Net-Zero Industry Act, the Clean Industrial Deal and the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

Net-Zero Industry Act

The Net-Zero Industry Act was adopted in June 2024. It aims to scale up EU manufacturing capacity for net-zero technologies, improve conditions for investment and market access, and support the EU’s climate, energy and industrial competitiveness objectives. The Regulation also seeks to simplify the regulatory framework for manufacturing these technologies and strengthen the resilience of the EU energy system.

The Regulation establishes a target for the EU’s manufacturing capacity for strategic net-zero technologies to approach or reach at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs by 2030. Technologies covered by the Act include sustainable alternative fuel technologies.

Clean Industrial Deal

The Clean Industrial Deal was launched by the European Commission on 26 February 2025. It sets out measures intended to support EU competitiveness and decarbonisation, with a particular focus on energy-intensive industries and the clean-technology sector. It addresses areas including affordable energy, demand for clean products, finance, circularity and access to skills.

The Clean Industrial Deal seeks to make decarbonisation a driver of industrial growth and create the conditions for European companies to remain competitive during the transition. It also provided the policy framework for the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act.

Industrial Accelerator Act

On 4 March 2026, the European Commission presented a proposal for an Industrial Accelerator Act. The proposal aims to accelerate industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors. It includes measures concerning demand for low-carbon and EU-manufactured products, industrial permitting and certain foreign investments.

The proposal sets an ambition to increase industrial manufacturing’s share of EU gross domestic product to 20% by 2035. As it remains a legislative proposal, it should be referred to as the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, not as an adopted Regulation.

FuelsEurope’s position and recommendations

FuelsEurope considers that EU legislation since 2020 has focused on targets supported by technology exclusions, bans and penalties. While this approach has provided signals about the requirements, size and shape of future markets, it does not sufficiently support investment decisions or provide investors with clarity on how low-carbon products would increase above the value of today’s incumbent products.

FuelsEurope welcomes the Net-Zero Industry Act and its aim of supporting the scale-up and deployment of critical technologies needed to achieve the EU’s decarbonisation objectives. FuelsEurope also welcomes its focus on industrial investment and competitiveness and its renewed attention to energy security.

FuelsEurope considers that an incentive-based system supporting the deployment of all renewable and low-carbon technologies would strengthen the resilience of EU industry and help address the risk of deindustrialisation.

FuelsEurope is actively contributing to the initiatives under the Clean Industrial Deal, which can support the sector’s transition towards a climate-neutral EU by 2050. In particular, FuelsEurope welcomes the recognition that the EU must move beyond isolated solutions and adopt a comprehensive, value-chain-wide strategy to support a competitive European industrial ecosystem.

In this context, FuelsEurope calls for the fuel manufacturing industry to be recognised as a strategic sector, reflecting its role in supplying sustainable energy and feedstocks to sectors across the industrial value chain.

The Clean Industrial Deal should safeguard the competitiveness, jobs and domestic production capacity of industries that are essential to Europe’s economy and climate objectives. A competitive low-carbon transformation of the fuel manufacturing industry is both possible and necessary. Investors therefore need clear, long-term signals from the EU institutions, including measures to prevent carbon leakage, investment leakage and deindustrialisation.