Europe’s China dilemma: Does the EU need to pick between faster decarbonization and green industry?

The European energy transition may be in full flow, but how European is it, really? Although a record 47% of the EU’s energy came from renewables in 2024, and EU countries now invest ten times as much in renewable energy as they do in oil and gas, the picks and shovels behind this green gold rush mostly come from elsewhere.

In 2024, 92% of the world’s supply of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and 82% of wind turbines came from one country—China. There are no European firms in the solar PV producers top ten. And while the world’s number one wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, is European, the rest of the top ten firms are not.

All of which begs the question, can—and should—Europe use the once-in-a-generation opportunity presented by decarbonization to reboot its own renewables supply chai