Industrial Accelerator Act: EU introduces “made in EU” rules and low‑carbon requirements

| Jiří Staník

The European Commission presented the draft Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) — new “made in EU” rules and low‑carbon requirements for key industrial sectors. Public procurement contracts for batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolyzers or electric vehicles will have to meet a European origin condition. In addition, low‑carbon requirements apply to steel, cement and aluminium.

The Commission is responding to competitive pressure, especially from China, which controls over 80 % of production capacity for batteries and solar technologies. The proposal aims to save more than 30 million tonnes of CO₂ and generate up to €10.5 billion in the automotive industry.

In practice this means greater protection for European manufacturers and higher entry barriers for Chinese producers. If low‑carbon material requirements become a condition of public procurement, companies will need to calculate the carbon footprint of their products. Carbon‑footprint calculation will cease to be a “nice to have” and will become a competitive necessity for access to public contracts.

Source: https://www.esgtoday.com/european-commission-unveils-low-carbon-made-in-eu-rules-for-manufacturing-cleantech-sectors/

EU Industrial Accelerator Act IAA low‑carbon requirements carbon footprint public procurement

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