Make Europe the place to invest, innovate and produce

“If we want to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, we need urgent, practical measures that make it easier to invest, innovate and produce in Europe. This means cutting unnecessary complexity, mobilising private capital, and ensuring that Europe remains a reliable and attractive place to manufacture,“ said Raúl De La Hoz Quintano MEP, after the European Commission presented the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) today.

“This proposal, long advocated by the EPP Group, marks an important step for Europe’s industrial future,“ stressed De La Hoz, who will negotiate the proposal on behalf of the EPP Group.

The IAA is about Europe building the industries of tomorrow. At a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty, the EU must take control of its industrial future by strengthening domestic manufacturing rather than relying on imports.

“Europe has the talent, the technology and the industrial strength. We must now act to provide the right framework so that businesses choose to grow, create jobs and manufacture here in Europe. If we get this right, we will reinforce our economic resilience and secure long-term growth and quality jobs across the Union,“ De La Hoz continued.

Christian Ehler MEP, EPP Group spokesman for industry, echoed this analysis: “Europe's industrial base is eroding. Industrial competitiveness is at the top of the EU's agenda, for good reason. Yet don't be misled. There aren't easy pretend solutions to such complex problems. Put more concretely, a protectionist economic policy is not a solution to our structural problems. The Union suffers today from an incomplete single market, the lack of a capital market union, and an economy that focuses too much on sectors with too little technological intensity, known as the mid-tech trap.“

“To revitalise economic dynamism, we must fix the structural problem drivers. Still, the Industrial Accelerator Act is an important part of the puzzle. Lead markets for green and European products can be important to help innovative sectors scale, and clearly defined conditionalities on foreign investment in strategic sectors will help rectify the market access inequalities that European companies face globally. In the legislative process, the EPP Group will make sure that the proposal can deliver on its potential,“ Ehler concluded.