EU green policies spark industry backlash

The European Parliament’s adoption in May of amendments to relax carbon emission rules for car companies has been criticized as a “regression in the clean transport strategy”. Italian PM Meloni warned in talks with German Chancellor Mertz on 17th that overly rigid green policies could lead to “industrial desertification” in Europe and emphasized the risk of an over-reliance on non-European countries in the electric vehicle supply chain. Germany’s electric car sales fell 27% in 2024 due to the removal of subsidies, highlighting the pains of the energy transition in traditional industrial powers. Meloni called for German-Italian cooperation to restore manufacturing competitiveness, arguing that “there is no green in the desert”.