AEGIS Europe’s calls for more decisive action following the Clean Industrial Deal
/Brussels, 27 February 2025. The European Commission released its much-awaited Clean Industrial Deal, honoring the pledge outlined in the Commission’s 2024-2029 Guidelines to introduce a new deal within the first 100 days of President von der Leyen’s second term.
Confronted with soaring energy costs, global overcapacities and unfair trade practices, the European Union must be acting boldly and rapidly to address these pressing issues, as highlighted by the Draghi report. The plan devised by the Commission must ensure that the EU’s industrial competitiveness and quality jobs are not sacrificed while pursuing sustainability goals.
For these reasons, AEGIS Europe highly appreciates the acknowledgement from the European Commission that public procurement policies are a powerful instrument to support jobs and value creation in the EU. For years, the Alliance has been advocating key reforms in the EU public procurement framework to ensure that European public investments and associated tenders widen the application of non-price criteria as well as European value and preference.
It will therefore be key that the revision of the public procurement framework, expected in 2026, enforces these criteria and enshrines provisions on third country bidders as per the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Case-652/22 (Kolin case).
Finally, given the aggressive export strategies enacted by certain foreign competitors, we believe that a ‘made-in Europe’ approach, as mentioned by Executive Vice-President Séjourné, should become a cornerstone of the new Commission’s agenda.
AEGIS Europe welcomes the Commission’s commitment to identify viable solutions to support exporters, as part of the comprehensive CBAM review foreseen for Q3 2025. However, the document does not sufficiently recognize the importance of an export adjustment within the mechanism, nor does it outline practical solutions for its design. Evidence suggests that discontinuing Emissions Trading System (ETS) free allowances without a viable export solution will increase carbon costs for EU companies and overall global CO₂ emissions, creating unprecedented risks for jobs and investment, and jeopardizing the goals of the EU Green Deal. AEGIS Europe calls for the introduction of a WTO compatible export adjustment to ensure a level playing field in export markets, safeguard EU competitiveness, and effectively prevent carbon leakage. Industrial policy alone will not suffice to guarantee the success of European industry.
A more assertive application of the EU Trade Defense Instruments (TDIs) is essential to counteract rising industrial overcapacities from foreign competitors—now extending beyond China. AEGIS Europe has been advocating for years the need for an instrument specifically designed to address global overcapacities. Therefore, we fully endorse the Commission’s commitment to sharpening existing trade defence tools, speeding up proceedings and designing additional instruments, including adjusted tariffs to the maximum levels as necessary, relying notably on exceptions for environmental protection. However, these positive steps require additional human resources within the EC and a clear implementation timeline—both absent from the adopted document—raising serious concerns about the Commission’s commitment to concrete action.
Finally, AEGIS Europe calls for a comprehensive EU’s industrial strategy: no sector should be excluded. Supporting energy intensive industries – alongside clean technologies – is a step in the right direction, as the Competitiveness Compass recognized them as the “backbone of the European manufacturing industry.” An inclusive approach in the implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal—combining fair trade policies, decisive external action and a robust industrial strategy across the entire value chain—is essential to securing Europe’s industrial future in an increasingly uneven global playing field.
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AEGIS Europe is an industry alliance that brings together more than 30 European manufacturing associations representative of the whole value chain, from commodities down to consumer end products. Our Members account for more than €500 billion in annual turnover, as well as for millions of jobs across the EU.