This week the EU Commission's President, Ursula von der Leyden, released the EU Clean Industrial Deal (CID). Its impact on the European cement sector will be significant, as it will set the agenda for sustainable cement production. However, with President Donald Trump now rowing back on the USA's climate change commitments, there is scepticism about whether the EU can push forward with a renewable energy future at an accelerated pace. Meanwhile, delays to policy implementation, such as the Cement Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), could put the European cement sector at a major disadvantage and cause a significant blow to net-zero ambitions.
Showing that the Commission is committed to decarbonising its economy by 2050, the CID aims to deliver on electrification, lower energy and the circular economy to reduce pressure on raw materials. The Affordable Energy Action Plan is designed to reduce costs for European industry, and to accelerate clean energy deployment of electrification and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Ursula von der Leyden says, "The deal will accelerate decarbonisation while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe."
Several initiatives arising from the CID will impact Europe's cement sector. The legal act to accelerate decarbonisation includes voluntary labelling for the steel industry in 2025 and subsequently, for cement. Carbon accounting methodologies are also to be harmonised.
Furthermore, the commission wants to establish a mechanism to allow European companies to join forces and pool their demand for critical raw materials, creating an EU critical raw materials centre and joint procurement to achieve greater scales of economy. The Circular Economy Act in 2026 will also accelerate the transition to a circular economy to enable 24 per cent of materials to be recyclable by 2030.
Meeting the financial requirements of decarbonisation
Financing of the CID is critically under pressure with Europe's need to increase defence funding. However, in the short-term the CID will aim to mobilise EUR100bn to support green manufacturing, including EUR1bn guarantees under the current Multiannual Financial Framework. It also plans a new state aid framework to enable easier and quicker approval of state aid for the expansion of renewable energies and advancement of clean technologies. The Innovation Fund is to be strengthened with a financing target of EUR100bn with additional revenues from parts of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) and the overhaul of InvestEU Regulation. The European Investment Bank is to arrange new financing instruments in support of CID.
Clear direction on CBAM and trade still awaits
Meanwhile, the Commission will launch the first Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships to diversify supply chains to create mutually beneficial agreements. CBAM is to be simplified and expanded but no mention as to a delay was made.
CEMBUREAU, Europe's cement association, has already urged the EU not to delay CBAM as it will severely affect green investment decisions. Due to be implemented on 1 January 2026, CBAM is designed to keep the European cement sector competitive against imports of clinker and cement which are not as green as those being produced in Europe’s low-carbon cement market. A delay in its implementation will not secure the level playing field that CEMBUREAU and those already heavily invested in decarbonisation programmes require. It could also see a reduced commitment to green initiatives in the cement sector.
Will there be a tapering down green ambitions?
Without EU funds for significant carbon capture infrastructure implementation, the whole trend towards decarbonisation could be knocked off course. CO2 transport costs could prove too prohibitive for the industry to embrace carbon capture, without which net-zero targets would be shifted past the 2050 goals.
Individual states will have more influence on how strictly green policies are applied. A sense of realism is filtering through. For example, Germany's new Chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has vowed to put the economy before decarbonisation. Nuclear energy is likely to become a necessity and an extended lifeline to petrol cars is expected, which were previously to be banned from 2035.
