Paris, Berlin and Madrid cannot agree where Europe ends
Serguey Asael Shinder1 min readFrance, Germany and Spain are split over what should qualify as "Made in Europe" as the EU prepares rules to favour European industry against Chinese competition, Euronews reported on 24 September 2026. The European Commission's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act would give preferential treatment in public contracts to European-made products including cars, steel and green technologies.
France is pushing for a strict EU preference. Germany wants a more open model that would count products made "with" Europe and, in a position paper, argues that rules of origin should extend to trading partners. Spain is proposing a compromise between the two.
What it means
Rules of origin are industrial policy disguised as paperwork. Whether a component assembled in a partner country counts as European decides which supply chains qualify for public money, and each capital's position maps onto the shape of its own industry rather than onto any principle about Europe.
That is why this will be settled slowly and in the annexes. The headline instrument will pass looking like a preference for European production; the percentage thresholds and the list of qualifying partners, negotiated later, are where the money actually goes.