The forthcoming legislation aimed at accelerating the industrial deployment of strategic sectors (‘Industrial Accelerator Act’) in the European Union will go beyond the challenge of decarbonising production factors, if the announcements on competitiveness and the internal market made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her State of the Union address on Wednesday 10 September are anything to go by.
“The Commission will propose an Industrial Accelerator Act for key strategic sectors and technologies. When it comes to digital and clean tech: faster, smarter and more European”, said Ms von der Leyen.
Announced in the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’ (see EUROPE 13588/1) and expected by the end of 2025, this legislative initiative, which will aim to facilitate investment, simplify administrative procedures and create lead markets, was initially entitled the ‘Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act’. The enlargement of its scope is said to be a specific request from the European Commissioner responsible for the dossier, Stéphane Séjourné.
‘Draghi’ report. Ms von der Leyen assured that the Commission was tackling “the key bottlenecks identified by the ‘Draghi’ report - from energy to capital, investment to simplification” (see EUROPE 13478/1). All the business sectors with which we have strategic dialogues - automotive, chemicals, steel, pharmaceuticals, defence, agriculture - are asking us to “make business in Europe easier”. Hence the regulatory simplification project that has been launched and will be expanded, particularly to the digital sector.
Several European Parliament political group Chairs felt that more needed to be done to implement the recommendations of the former Italian Prime Minister. “Mr Draghi tells us: What are you waiting for?”, said German Christian Democrat Manfred Weber. “2026 must be the year of the ‘Draghi’ report”, said the leader of the Renew Europe Group, France’s Valérie Hayer. She praised the ‘economic’ aspect of Ms von der Leyen’s speech, citing in particular “European preference”. She added that the ‘Draghi’ report was “the hope of a Europe that makes its citizens dream with major industrial and technological projects”.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA Group, Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout warned against any deregulation under the guise of boosting competitiveness. “We will never win the deregulation race against the United States”, he said, promising to take great care to ensure that the future ‘omnibus’ proposal to simplify the digital sector does not call into question the EU’s “sovereignty”.
‘Roadmap’ 2028 for the internal market. Referring to the strategy for deepening the internal market (see EUROPE 13645/1), Ms von der Leyen noted that the single market remained incomplete, particularly in three areas: “financial services, energy and telecommunications”.
The Commission will therefore present a ‘roadmap’ for the implementation, by 2028, of the specific measures envisaged for these sectors, with “clear political deadlines”. This includes the creation of a 28th regime to facilitate cross-border business activities and a 5th freedom for knowledge and innovation.
“As President von der Leyen noted, businesses operating across the EU face the equivalent of a 45% tariff on goods and a 110% tariff on services. The single market can only fulfil its promise when these barriers are removed”, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in the EU (AmCham EU). In the same vein, Eurochambres deplored the fact that the EU is shooting itself in the foot “by failing to address regulatory overkill and persistent barriers to trade within the single market”.
The President of the Commission also pointed out that the EU institution was in the process of drawing up a European fund to support the growth of medium-sized businesses (‘Scale-up Europe Fund’). “It will help make major investments in young, fast-growing companies in critical tech areas. Because we want the best of Europe to choose Europe”, she stressed.
Clean technologies. With regard to support for the development of clean technologies in the EU, Ms von der Leyen did not make any major specific announcements, stressing the importance of speeding up the implementation of the measures envisaged in the ‘Clean Industrial Deal’.
Nevertheless, while the Parliament has not come out clearly in favour of introducing a European preference in public procurement (see EUROPE 13705/13), Ms von der Leyen has announced that the ‘Made in Europe’ criteria will be introduced in the revision of the public procurement directives in order to stimulate demand for clean technologies in the EU.
This initiative was welcomed by SMEunited, “provided that it recognises the value of European manufacturing and guarantees equal access for SMEs”.
Affordable Car Initiative. Ursula von der Leyen also announced a new initiative to promote small, affordable cars.
Two days before the third strategic dialogue on the automotive industry (see EUROPE 13703/9), the President expressed her support for this “pillar of our economy and our industry”. So as not to “let China and other countries conquer this market”, she wants Europe to develop its own electric car that is clean, efficient and light, affordable for the public and built in Europe, with European supply chains.
On this subject, she pointed out that the stimulus programme for batteries will soon be launched and will have €1.8 billion at its disposal (see EUROPE 13638/27).
In addition, “while respecting technological neutrality”, the Commission is currently preparing a review of the 2035 target for the end of combustion engines. Questioned by Agence Europe, Germany’s Jens Gieseke (EPP) felt that the industry “needs a clear signal on Friday that the next steps will follow”, including “a revision of the CO2 standards for cars and vans this year”.
Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE, French) deplored the introduction of coercive environmental measures. He, too, wants to revisit the ban on internal combustion engines. His compatriots Christophe Clergeau (S&D) and Laurence Farreng (Renew Europe) defended the introduction of social leasing at European level, enabling citizens to buy electric vehicles. For Mr Clergeau, this measure should be financed by the ‘Climate Action Social Facility’, a sign that citizens would be “stakeholders in the energy transition”. Ms Farreng felt that this could be achieved through the ‘Just Transition Fund’ and national plans to complement it.
Finally, the Co-Chair of The Left Group, Frenchwoman Manon Aubry, also raised the issue of production in Europe. “The first thing to do is to ensure that factories in Europe do not close (...), because they are facing unfair competition, particularly from China”, she told Agence Europe.
Link to Ms von der Leyen’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/icl
See her letter of intent: https://aeur.eu/f/icn (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Anne Damiani)