The draft EU plan for clean technologies sets a target of 40 % of production

The Financial Times reports on a draft EU document that would see the bloc aim to meet 40 % of its needs with domestic production in five sectors – solar, wind, heat pumps, batteries and electrolysers – in a bid to be net-zero. The FT says: “The document, due to be tabled on March 14, is a direct response to US Inflation Reduction Act, announced last August, which provides $369 billion in tax credits and subsidies for clean energy technologies.” Reuters agency states that as part of plans to combat IRA, the EU will introduce new permits, regulatory support and easier access to public and private funding for certain green technologies. Bloomberg it also has a story. It comes at a time when the agency Reuters reports that a senior EU official has said that the EU and the US are currently working on a deal to make European minerals eligible for IRA tax credits. In the second story of the Reuters agency European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reported to have said on Sunday that she was "determined" to face the challenges posed by the IRA.

Elsewhere Financial Times reports that industry experts are questioning the bloc's continued spending on fossil fuel subsidies amid its push to be net-zero. The second one FT reports that Germany and Italy have "smashed" the EU's plan to ban internal combustion engines by 2035.