In two separate documents on Thursday, the European Commission detailed a high-level strategy to reduce regulatory burden and accelerate investment in clean technologies like solar, wind and carbon-capture across the continent. It also outlined a plan to secure critical materials used in industries like aerospace, electric vehicles and digital technology. (The Logic)

Talking point: The EU policies are viewed as a counter to U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which plans to hand out US$369-billion in subsidies and other measures to develop green technologies. China’s Communist Party, meanwhile, reportedly allocated US$546 billion last year toward clean energy. Those lofty spending measures, particularly in the U.S., have prompted Canada’s energy industry to call for more subsidies as the federal government prepares to table its next budget on March 28. In their pre-budget recommendations to Finance Canada officials, oil and gas companies warned that a failure to meet Biden’s policies in areas like carbon capture and storage could put the country at a long-term strategic disadvantage.