AMSTERDAM: The European Union needs new ways to support companies through the energy transition and counter the effects of state support for US competitors, European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni has told Dutch financial daily FD.

In an interview published on Tuesday, Gentiloni said state support could be needed to prevent companies moving away due to high energy prices and the economic effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which are felt harder in Europe than elsewhere.

But he did not say how large such new support funds should be, or how they should be financed.

“Let’s first determine what sectors and projects, like hydrogen, are of common European interest and see what is needed to stimulate them,” he said.

The support should also help the EU tackle the $430-billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) the United States adopted last year, he added.

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EU nations are worried the IRA will unfairly disadvantage their firms, denying them tax credits for components used in renewable energy technologies, such as electric cars, offered by the new law on condition that they are made in North America.