In February 2025, the European Commission launched Clean Industrial Deal - CID, an initiative that aims to make European industry a leader in decarbonisation, strategic self-reliance and global competitiveness. The IDA comes in response to the growing pressures on the European economy: high energy prices, fierce international competition, dependence on critical raw materials and the urgent need to transition to a sustainable economic model.

What is the Clean Industrial Deal?

It is a plan focused on modernising and decarbonising Europe's industrial sectors, in particular energy-intensive sectors such as steel, chemicals or cement production. The aim: to create a cleaner, more efficient and globally competitive European industry.

The main objectives of the IDA are

1. Cut energy costs - through the Affordable Energy Plan, the EU expects savings of up to €260bn/year by 2040
2. Boost demand for clean products - through voluntary carbon footprint labelling and prioritising EU-made products in public procurement
3. Mobilising investment - through a new European Industrial Decarbonisation Bank with an initial budget of €100 billion
4. Promoting the circular economy - by increasing the use of recyclable materials and reducing dependence on external resources.

Concrete targets

Among the concrete objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal is the European Union's intention to install 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity annually by 2030 as part of the effort to decarbonise the economy. It also plans to set up a European Centre for Critical Raw Materials to help secure the supply of essential resources for green industries. Energy market reform is another central pillar, which aims to decouple the price of electricity from that of natural gas to stabilise costs for consumers and industry. Other measures include the introduction of a voluntary emissions intensity labelling for industrial products and a target to increase the use of circular materials to 24% of total raw material consumption by 2030.

Stakeholder reactions

Reactions to the Clean Industrial Deal have been mixed. Industry representatives, such as BusinessEurope and CEFIC, welcomed the support to reduce costs and encourage investment, but signalled a need for clarity on the concrete implementation of the measures. Environmental organisations welcomed the general direction of the plan, but expressed reservations about the risk that certain sustainability and transparency standards could be weakened. At the same time, some Central and Eastern European Member States emphasised the importance of equitable access to funding and technical support. Trade union organisations, including ETUC, also called for clear measures to ensure worker protection and support for retraining in the context of industrial transition.

Clean Industrial Deal vs. European Green Deal

Although the Clean Industrial Deal is an integral part of the European green vision, it is not the equivalent of the Green Deal.

The European Green Deal (2019) is the umbrella strategy that defines the EU's objective of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and includes broad policies in areas such as energy, transport, agriculture and biodiversity. In contrast, the Clean Industrial Deal is an applied extension, focussed narrowly on industry - i.e. how European production and technology can be transformed to reduce emissions, create jobs and boost economic self-reliance.

If the Green Deal sets out the overall environmental vision, the IDA proposes the economic and industrial mechanisms to achieve it. It is basically the "industrial engine" of the green transition.