EU is shaping new economic policy: focus is on development of heavy industry
The EU's "Industrial Accelerator Act," which was designed to boost competition with the United States and China, is intended to strengthen Europe's manufacturing, localization, and economic security.
According to the latest regulatory documents drafted for this project, the key instruments of the EU’s new industrial policy will be support for manufacturing, the localization of supply chains, and the streamlining of industrial project launches, writes Skadden, as reported by Censor.NET.
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The European Commission explicitly states that industry’s share of the EU’s GDP has declined from 17.4% in 2000 to 14.3% in 2024. In other words, the EU’s goal is to shift from an open-market policy to a policy of industrial strengthening. For Ukraine, which has EU candidate status, it is important not to remain merely a supplier of raw materials or a sales market, but to become part of European production chains.
For Ukraine, this initiative is significant as a signal: the EU increasingly views industry not merely as an economic sector, but as the foundation of security, resilience, and strategic autonomy. This approach is also critical to Ukraine’s recovery strategy.
In fact, the EU plans to use public procurement as a tool to support its own industry. This is significant, as public procurement accounts for about 15% of the EU’s GDP. In this way, Brussels aims to direct a significant portion of demand toward products manufactured within the European market.
Final adoption is not expected to take place until mid- or late 2027 at the earliest. Before then, the document will still be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
