China in the crosshairs as EU launches sweeping plans to save its industrial future
Proposals reveal EU anxiety over competing with Chinese products, security fears linked to Chinese investments and urgency to act
A common thread through each is that the screws will be turned ever tighter on Chinese firms in Europe.
Combined, the proposals reveal anxiety over the bloc’s ability to compete with cut-price and increasingly high-quality Chinese products, the heightened security fears connected to Chinese investments, and a new-found urgency to do something about both.
The Industrial Accelerator Act, which was proposed to great fanfare, is a political bombshell that blows away decades of adherence to free trade and laissez-faire economics.
It aims to increase manufacturing’s contribution to the EU economy from 14.3 per cent in 2024 to 20 per cent by 2035. Production volumes are estimated to have fallen by almost 20 per cent since 2019, much of it lost to China.
Stephane Sejourne, the EU’s industry chief, underscored the drastic shift.
“What I’m talking to you about isn’t just a change in our modus operandi – it’s actually a change in doctrine. This is something that was unthinkable even just a few months ago,” Sejourne said at a press conference in Brussels.