The European Commission has delayed the introduction of its Industrial Accelerator Act by one week amid a dispute over how widely the planned measures should apply, a spokesperson for the office of Commission Executive Vice President Stéphane Séjourné said on Monday. The announcement, originally scheduled for Thursday, will instead take place on March 4.
The Act is intended to impose minimum thresholds for components produced locally on projects that receive public funding in a set of strategic industries. The measure would apply to sectors identified by the Commission, including batteries, solar and wind energy, and nuclear power.
Support for tighter local-content rules has been particularly strong in France, which has argued that measures to favour European-made parts are necessary to shield domestic industries from cheaper imports. French backers of the proposal say some competing suppliers operate under less stringent environmental and regulatory regimes, and that protections are needed to preserve local industrial capacity.
But not all member states share that view. Sweden and the Czech Republic have voiced reservations, warning that buy-local requirements could discourage inward investment, push up prices in government procurement and erode the EU's competitiveness on the international stage. Those concerns were central to the disagreement that prompted the Commission to postpone the public presentation.
Industry groups, including carmakers and other manufacturers, have also engaged in the debate over the geographic scope of the protections. They have requested that any safeguards not be limited to the EU and countries in the European Free Trade Association - Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein - but be extended to other territories that form part of their supply chains. Britain and Turkey were cited by industry as examples of such territories that they want included.
The Commission's decision to push back the announcement underscores the unresolved tensions between proponents of strict localisation and those cautioning about potential market distortions and higher procurement costs. With the new March 4 presentation date set, member states and industry stakeholders will continue to press their positions on how broadly the Industrial Accelerator Act should define 'local' manufacturing.