French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire will request “transparency” from Washington over its $369 billion green subsidy splurge in an upcoming trip to the U.S.
“The most important thing is that we cooperate with allies to have transparency about the amount of subsidies and tax credits that will be granted,” Le Maire told AFP in an interview published Saturday. “If you know at what price green hydrogen will be released in the United States and at what price it will be released in Europe, this allows you to guarantee fair competition conditions.”
Le Maire and his German counterpart, Robert Habeck, are travelling to Washington on Tuesday to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Le Maire and Habeck will ask the Biden administration to share the amount and the beneficiaries of aid under a “reciprocal transparency mechanism,” a French Economy Ministry official told reporters ahead of the trip.
The European Commission this week proposed its own package in an effort to counter the U.S. subsidy splash. The EU proposal, called the Green Deal Industrial Plan, aims to make it easier for sustainable companies to access tax breaks, to redirect cash toward clean-tech industries and to relax state aid rules.
EU leaders will meet in Brussels next Thursday and Friday for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Commission’s proposal.
Giorgio Leali contributed reporting.
