BRUSSELS — The European Commission is preparing draft legislation that would require public authorities to source key green technologies mainly from within the European Union.
The draft is presented as industrial policy intended to strengthen EU supply chains and reduce dependencies in parts of the clean-technology value chain.
The proposal is expected in late January. The European Parliament’s Legislative Train lists an “Industrial Accelerator Act” file as currently expected on 28 January 2026, after earlier delays. Reuters reported the Commission text is due next week and could still change before publication.
According to the draft, the rules would set new sourcing requirements for government procurement of batteries, components used in solar and wind energy, and electric vehicles. The draft would also require power cables and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure bought through public contracts to be Europe-made, and would set minimum EU-made shares in public contracts for certain low-carbon industrial goods.
Battery energy storage systems are set out in the most detail. Under the draft timetable, battery systems bought through public procurement would, 12 months after the law takes effect, need to be assembled inside the EU. The battery management system and two other components would also have to be sourced within the bloc. After two years, the rules would tighten further, requiring the battery system itself to be Europe-made along with additional core components, including cells.
The Commission draft links the procurement shift to the EU’s industrial position. It describes a “strategic warning signal” in the decline of the EU’s share of global industry gross value, cited as falling from 20.8 per cent to 14.3 per cent between 2000 and 2020. The text argues that policy should ensure the climate transition supports industrial activity rather than driving production elsewhere, and that public purchasing can be used to shape demand in strategically important supply chains.
The planned measures would build on, and go beyond, recent EU legislation that already encourages public buyers to use non-price criteria in relevant tenders. The Commission’s Net-Zero Industry Act framework makes sustainability a minimum mandatory requirement in covered procurement and introduces a resilience criterion, intended to diversify supply sources where the EU is highly dependent on specific components. The Commission also says non-price criteria must apply in renewable-energy auctions, covering at least 30 per cent of volume auctioned annually in each member state or 6 gigawatts, and notes that an implementing regulation adopted in June 2025 sets out pre-qualification and award criteria.
The broader policy backdrop is the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal, launched on 26 February 2025, which set out actions focused on energy-intensive industries and clean-tech manufacturing, including reducing over-dependence on third-country suppliers for key inputs. The Commission has linked this agenda to competitiveness concerns and to supply-chain security in sectors where EU demand is rising, including electricity networks and storage.
Alongside procurement, Reuters reported that the draft would raise hurdles for major foreign investments in “strategic sectors”. Foreign direct investment above €100 million would not be approved unless it met new conditions linked to using Europe-made components and EU labour. The investment strand comes as the EU is tightening its screening architecture: in December 2025, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on revised FDI screening rules, including a requirement for all 27 member states to operate screening mechanisms in specified sensitive sectors.
Member states are divided over how far the Commission should go. Reuters said France has championed the push, while Sweden and the Czech Republic have warned that buy-local rules could raise tender prices and weaken competitiveness. In December 2025, nine member states — the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Sweden and Slovakia — urged “extreme caution” over ‘Buy European’ policies, calling for an impact assessment, arguing any preference should be limited in scope and time, and warning against cumbersome verification of origin for complex products.
Any final proposal will also have to operate within the EU’s procurement framework, which emphasises fairness, transparency and non-discrimination in high-value tenders. That leaves open questions on definition and enforcement, including how contracting authorities would verify the origin of components across multi-country supply chains for technologies such as batteries, turbines, power electronics and grid equipment.
If the Commission publishes the draft as planned, it will be negotiated by the Council and the European Parliament. The final shape of the law is likely to depend on the scope of technologies covered, the thresholds and timelines, and the exemptions available where EU supply is limited or procurement costs rise sharply.
