Not “Made in Europe” – but “Made with Europe”
The EU’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act has an important objective: strengthening Europe’s industrial capacity, resilience and competitiveness. Its “Made in EU” provisions seek to stimulate demand for European production in strategic sectors such as automotive, steel, aluminium and clean technologies.
But Europe needs to be careful that greater economic security does not become greater economic isolation. In an increasingly uncertain world, the question should not simply be what is produced within the EU’s borders, but how Europe can build stronger industrial partnerships with reliable, like-minded countries.
Canada provides an interesting example. It is one of Europe’s closest political and economic partners and CETA has been provisionally applied since 2017. Yet, remarkably, ten EU Member States have still not completed their national ratification procedures. At the same time, the EU is discussing ways of developing an even closer relationship with Canada. This illustrates a wider problem: Europe has ambitious ideas about strategic partnerships, but sometimes struggles to turn them into practical economic integration.
We need to get our act together.
The same logic applies to the United Kingdom. German companies manufacture in Britain as part of European, not isolated British, supply chains. Their UK factories buy components from the continent, supply European customers and form part of integrated automotive, engineering, pharmaceutical and technology networks. The British Government has similarly highlighted the uniquely integrated nature of UK-EU manufacturing supply chains.
Encouragingly, the Commission's proposal already provides some mechanisms for recognising content from certain free trade and government procurement partners as EU-origin in certain circumstances. That principle should be developed rather than narrowed.
For our Chamber and our members, there is therefore an important task ahead. We need to provide policymakers in London, Berlin and Brussels with concrete examples showing how German-British supply chains work, where restrictive rules could damage investment and competitiveness, and why cooperation with trusted partners strengthens rather than weakens Europe's industrial base.
Europe certainly needs to become more resilient. But resilience cannot mean building new walls around the EU. “Made in Europe” should ultimately become a strategy of “Made with Europe” – bringing together the EU, the UK and other trusted partners that share our economic interests and values.
Dr Ulrich Hoppe
Director General
German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce
