EU wants quick deal with US on green subsidies

The European Union is set to reach short-term agreements with the United States on access to climate subsidies previously announced by President Joe Biden's administration. This is reported by Bloomberg news agency, citing a Brussels insider. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak with Biden in Washington next week and wants the outlines of an agreement in place by then.

Biden recently announced hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to support U.S. industry in accelerating the transition to clean energy. That sparked opposition in the European Union, as the state aid threatens to put European industry at a disadvantage. The European Commission would now steer toward agreements that would also allow EU member states, as free trade partners of the U.S., to access some of those support measures.

Von der Leyen and Biden are trying to reach agreements in principle next week on access to strategically important raw materials, the labor market, and sustainability. This could give the EU a status equivalent to that of a free trade partner of the U.S., which would also allow member states to benefit from climate subsidies.

Last month, European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis already stated that the U.S. is open to granting the EU that status. That would help remedy "discriminatory aspects" of the Inflation Reduction Act, as Biden's bill for the billion-dollar subsidies is called.