The European Commission is preparing to tighten the rules governing how public authorities across the bloc buy goods and services, with new requirements designed to favour products made in the European Union and those with a lower carbon footprint.
Speaking in Antwerp on Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would introduce “EU-made” and low-carbon requirements for public procurement, arguing that existing rules too often steer public buyers towards subsidised imports rather than European alternatives.
Public procurement accounts for a large share of demand in the EU economy, spanning construction, transport infrastructure, energy systems, and the purchase of industrial materials and equipment. Von der Leyen framed the planned changes as a way to ensure that public spending supports domestic industry and investment, as the EU attempts to strengthen competitiveness amid intensifying competition from the United States and China.
The procurement requirements are expected to be a central element of a forthcoming “Industrial Accelerator Act”, which the Commission plans to present later this month. In recent weeks, policy discussions in Brussels have increasingly focused on “lead markets” — the idea that regulation and public purchasing can create reliable demand for low-carbon materials and technologies, helping European producers scale up and reduce costs.
Commission sets out buy-European rules for key green technologies
A Commission proposal on this theme has been anticipated since January, when Reuters reported that Brussels was considering minimum shares in public contracts for EU-made, low-carbon industrial goods, alongside requirements for some strategic infrastructure — including power cables and electric-vehicle charging equipment — to be Europe-made. That earlier report also pointed to a tougher stance on certain large foreign direct investments in strategic sectors, linking approvals to conditions such as the use of Europe-made components and EU labour.
While Wednesday’s remarks did not spell out which sectors will be covered first, industry officials and lobby groups have been pressing the Commission to prioritise hard-to-abate materials such as steel and cement, where low-carbon production tends to be more expensive than conventional output. A coalition statement released on 11 February called for stronger “lead market” measures in the Industrial Accelerator Act, including green procurement rules intended to accelerate demand for low-carbon industrial products.
The move comes as business leaders intensify calls for the EU to address structural disadvantages faced by European manufacturing, particularly high energy costs. In a separate Reuters report on the same day, executives from major industrial groups warned that European power prices were undermining investment decisions, with electricity costs described as significantly higher than those in the US and China. Von der Leyen has acknowledged the challenge, pointing to grid constraints, the pace of infrastructure build-out, and the need for a more integrated energy system.
Supporters of procurement-based industrial policy argue that public buyers can provide the predictable demand needed for companies to commit capital to new technologies, including low-carbon steel, electrified industrial processes, and cleaner materials used in buildings and transport networks. In this view, procurement rules can complement subsidy programmes by ensuring that a market exists once new capacity is built.
The Commission is also attempting to square industrial support with its climate agenda. Low-carbon procurement criteria, if designed around emissions performance rather than nationality alone, can be presented as climate policy as well as competitiveness policy. That approach may also be relevant for legal robustness, given the EU’s internal market rules and international trade obligations.
However, the introduction of explicit “EU-made” requirements is likely to attract scrutiny. Within the EU, procurement is governed by detailed rules intended to prevent discrimination and to keep competition open across member states. Any attempt to privilege European production will need to be reconciled with those principles, or framed through exemptions linked to security, resilience, or strategic autonomy.
Externally, trading partners may view “local content” rules as protectionist. The EU has already faced tensions with the United States over industrial subsidies and with China over market access and state support. Procurement restrictions aimed at subsidised imports risk provoking disputes or retaliation, particularly if they affect sectors where European firms export heavily.
Von der Leyen’s Antwerp speech sits within a wider Commission narrative that Europe must reduce regulatory fragmentation while using targeted tools to support investment. Earlier this week, she reiterated the need to simplify rules and deepen the single market, arguing that Europe’s competitiveness is weakened by 27 regulatory systems and a patchwork of national market structures.
The Industrial Accelerator Act is expected to provide more detail on how procurement criteria would be applied, how “low-carbon” will be defined and verified, and whether minimum shares for EU-made goods will be set across particular product categories. The Commission will also need to clarify how the approach interacts with state-aid rules and existing EU initiatives aimed at clean technologies and industrial decarbonisation.
For member states, the changes could reshape purchasing decisions for large infrastructure programmes and public works, where materials such as steel, cement, and equipment account for substantial shares of cost. For industry, the prospect of mandated demand is likely to be viewed alongside other unresolved issues — notably energy pricing, permitting delays, and access to capital — that determine whether European production can compete on price as well as on emissions performance.
