The EPP-CoR Group strongly supports European industry and European production but this should not come at an additional expense for local authorities and tax payers This is why the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has successfully pushed for a CoR position establishing that cost increases of more than 10% in public procurement may be considered disproportionate. During the plenary debate, EPP-CoR members called for an industrial policy that strengthens European production without imposing excessive costs on municipalities, regions and taxpayers, creating new barriers for SMEs or undermining Europe's competitiveness.
Christoph Schnaudigel (DE/EPP), District Commissioner of Karlsruhe, who successfully proposed the amendment in the opinion on the Industrial Accelerator Act, welcomed the CoR position: “Thanks to our amendment, the CoR has adopted a position that cost increases of more than 10% may be considered disproportionate in public procurement. This means more competitiveness and better values for tax payers” The amendment seeks to ensure that European industrial policy remains compatible with responsible public spending. It also reflects the need to avoid additional barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises competing for public contracts. The EPP Group stressed that strengthening Europe's industrial base should not mean closing European markets to international competition. Open trade and access to competitive technologies and materials from international partners remain essential for European businesses, public authorities and the wider economy.
Protecting affordable housing and infrastructure investment
Thomas Gottfried Schmidt (DE/EPP), Member of the Saxon State Parliament and head of the CoR German Delegation, warned that rising costs for essential industrial materials could have serious consequences for housing and infrastructure development across Europe. “We must be careful not to undermine the competitiveness of our businesses by significantly increasing the costs of essential materials such as steel and cement. If these costs continue to rise, we will make it increasingly difficult to address some of Europe's most pressing challenges, including construction and the development of critical infrastructure such as roads, railways and bridges.”
Schmidt stressed that industrial transformation must not come at the expense of Europe's ability to deliver essential investments.“While we support the objectives of the Industrial Accelerator Act, we must ensure that the proposed measures do not create additional economic burdens that prevent businesses and public authorities from delivering the investments Europe needs.”
Supporting low-carbon steel and simplifying industrial permitting
Annika Fohn (DE/EPP), Member of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, highlighted the importance of creating markets for low-carbon industrial products while keeping procurement requirements affordable and practical. “Public procurement must help create markets for low-carbon products, while ensuring that the rules remain practical and affordable for businesses and public authorities. It is particularly important that Made-in-EU requirements also include low-carbon steel, a key priority for our industrial region.”
Fohn also called for a more ambitious approach to simplifying industrial permitting, arguing that reducing administrative deadlines alone would not be sufficient to accelerate investment. “At the same time, accelerating industrial transformation requires more than simply shortening administrative deadlines. We must also simplify the substantive and technical requirements of permitting procedures. Only through practical rules, simplified permitting and effective support for low-carbon industrial production can we achieve genuine acceleration.”