BRUSSELS, March 4, 2026 – The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), announced today as a measure to boost Europe’s reindustrialization and competitiveness, risks undermining the very climate and environmental goals it claims to advance, according to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
The proposed IAA is a flagship measure of the Clean Industrial Deal. It focuses on energy-intensive industries, the automotive sector, and so-called ‘clean technologies’, particularly through public procurement and local-content requirements aimed at strengthening European manufacturing.
Although the proposal seeks to stimulate demand for European ‘clean technologies’, this does not exclude failed and speculative technofixes such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), and neglects to set clear limits on unnecessary and polluting production.
The proposal also requires European Union (EU) Member States to designate at least one “acceleration area” — industrial clusters of sectors deemed “strategic”, including plastic production and other highly polluting industries. These clusters will benefit from streamlined environmental assessments and, in some cases, from tacit approval procedures [1].
While these areas must take account of Natura 2000 sites and other conservation schemes, the push for faster permitting risks weakening environmental safeguards and sidelining public participation.
Silvia Pastorelli, EU Petrochemicals Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law, said:
“The European Commission’s push to label chemicals and plastics as ‘strategic’ ignores the reality of oversupply and the urgent need to stay within planetary limits. By weakening environmental rules and creating ‘acceleration areas,’ Europe is locking itself into polluting, fossil-based industries that have no place in a climate-safe future.
“A truly forward-looking industrial policy must be based on sufficiency, not overproduction. To meet its environmental and climate commitments, Europe must stop boosting polluting industries that contradict these goals and instead plan their managed phase-down.
“The most strategic choice Europe can make now is to prioritize fundamental rights and basic needs over the interests of industries that rely on imported fossil fuels.”
Rachel Kennerley, International Carbon Capture Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law, said:
“The EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act is another exercise in watering down environmental protections for corporate convenience, creating greater risks with fewer safeguards and at enormous public cost.
“Behind the label of ‘clean technologies,’ governments are pouring taxpayers’ money into technofixes like failed Carbon Capture and Storage and speculative Carbon Dioxide Removal, while failing to act on proven, effective climate solutions. These false promises don’t accelerate climate action; they delay it and entrench fossil fuel dependence.
“Major energy company Equinor is pulling back from key Carbon Capture and Storage investments, citing challenges with project economics and customer demand. At the same time, the EU is doubling down on subsidies for fossil polluters and rolling back permitting safeguards, leaving the public to foot the bill for fossil fuel pollution.”
Media Contact
Niccolò Sarno, CIEL Media Relations Specialist: [email protected]
Notes to Editors
[1] As outlined in the Proposal for a Regulation to Speed Up Environmental Assessment, part of the Environmental Omnibus published in December.