In the face of climate change and competition from China, “the US and the EU have a great common interest in maintaining our industrial leadership,” von der Leyen said in a speech at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, on Sunday.
The head of the European Commission addressed the United States in his address, as a result of growing concern in the EU over Washington’s recent decision to spend 700 million dollars on tax benefits for American consumers.
The ruling involves tax credits for people who buy electric cars with batteries manufactured in the US, or in certain countries with which the US has free trade agreements. The EU and US are major trading partners, but have no such agreement between them.
Meanwhile, the EU is home to a number of major automakers. The fear in the EU is that European manufacturers may lose out on the American decision.
Von der Leyen warned that the EU could introduce necessary measures in response to the new US green technology law, but believed that the EU and US should work together to solve the problem.
The US and EU should therefore invest together to develop “two industrial bases for green energy on both sides of the Atlantic”, said von der Leyen, who suggested that the EU’s strict rules on public investment should be relaxed.
He also said that the US and the EU should cooperate more to access and produce key raw materials and thus reduce China’s advantage.
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