BRUSSELS — EU countries want to give Brussels the power to revise a law designed to boost the manufacture of climate-friendly building materials, in the latest attempt to water down the bloc’s environmental ambitions.
The Industrial Accelerator Act, proposed by the European Commission in March, would require “low-carbon” steel and aluminum to make up 25 percent of those materials used in publicly commissioned works. For cement, the proposed quota is 5 percent.
The idea is for mandatory quotas to guarantee demand and prompt industry to find cleaner ways to manufacture the most polluting materials.
But according to a new text dated July 30 and obtained by POLITICO, member countries are worried this rule could reduce the EU’s access to vital materials, push up prices and damage its ability to compete with China and the U.S.
