STRASBOURG — Europe should protect its share of market from global competitors’ investment in green tech, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. Von der Leyen said European Union leaders will discuss the issue during their Thursday summit. “The clean transition is in full swing,” she said during a debate in the European Parliament, pointing out how every year, hundreds of gigawatts of energy are added globally. “Cleantech markets around the world are booming,” including batteries, wind turbines and electric cars. “The rise in cleantech in Europe is also good news for energy security, and it is a great economic opportunity,” she added. Yet, she warned, Europe in the past missed out on chances to lead on green industry, with the loss of solar panel industry to more competitive Chinese companies being “a cautionary tale that we must not forget.” “Europe was a global leader in solar, but heavily subsidized Chinese competitors started to outprice Europe’s young industry — and today, China controls 90 percent of the global market.” “This time, we should learn our lesson,” she added, name-checking the Middle East and the “Global South” as regions competing for their spot in the global industrial green tech race. The European Commission expects renewables and other forms of clean energy to supply 50 percent of energy globally, while the cleantech market is projected to grow from €600 billion to €2 trillion over the next 10 years. The EU wants to capture 15 percent of the global production of clean technologies, with the EU market growing to €375 billion by 2035, according to Commission projections.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission wants to funnel billions more into energy infrastructure as part of the EU’s next long-term budget. Energy ventures would see a significant increase in funds under the proposal. The Commission suggests earmarking €30 billion of its Connecting Europe Facility for energy infrastructure — up from €6 billion. That would mean more money for things like grid upgrades, battery storage and hydrogen infrastructure. “This reinforces energy independence and accelerates the clean transition,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters as she unveiled the proposal. Von der Leyen also touted a new proposal to let countries take out loans of up to €150 billion backed by the EU for “EU objectives,” naming energy and defense as priorities. Grids could similarly receive funding from an expanded “competitiveness fund,” worth €410 billion in the Commission’s proposal. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned in a highly touted report that Europe’s outdated grids were seriously hindering its ability to compete against the U.S. and China.  Within the competitiveness fund, von der Leyen also pitched a sixfold increase in “clean tech and decarbonization.” And overall, she said, 35 percent of her proposed EU budget would go toward climate and environment schemes, reaching roughly €700 billion.  That money would go toward efforts to adapt to climate change, protect water resources, prevent pollution and create a more circular economy. The 35 percent figure would merge what are currently two separate spending targets — 30 percent for climate and 10 percent for biodiversity — under the existing EU budget.  Environmental groups have been warning that such a change would result in less money going towards biodiversity objectives.