With our key messages on the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), we assess the European Commission’s proposal. The IAA addresses key challenges facing European industry and introduces new policy approaches. At the same time, significant implementation risks remain, particularly regarding demand-side measures, foreign investment provisions, permitting procedures and other key regulatory elements. A practical and business-friendly design that avoids additional bureaucracy will be crucial. While the IAA can be an important element of industrial policy, it cannot substitute for the fundamental improvements in framework conditions that are needed to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness.
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Topic
Bilateral Relations
A politically strong and competitive EU is the foundation of prosperity in Germany. The European single market is the home market for local companies. Looking ahead, we need close cooperation among political and economic stakeholders in EU member states—not only in Brussels, but also at the bilateral and multilateral levels. We at the BDI work closely with our partners to strengthen Europe and create the conditions for stable economic growth in Germany.
Latest news on the topic
With the Public Procurement Act (PPA) presented on 9 September 2026, the European Commission is proposing the most far-reaching reform of European public procurement law in more than a decade. The objective is to make procurement procedures simpler and more digital while using public procurement more strategically as a tool to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and economic security. From an industry perspective, the proposal offers significant opportunities but also raises questions regarding practical implementation and administrative burden.
On the presentation of the ETS Review, Holger Lösch, Deputy Director General of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), stated: ”The proposal contains some sound elements, but it neither provides adequate conditions for investment in Europe’s industrial transformation nor offers a convincing response to the ongoing deindustrialization.”
BDI supports the Commission’s broader objective of aligning merger control more closely with Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and innovation goals and welcomes the more dynamic and forward-looking assessment of competition. However, certain amendments are necessary. While the draft rightly emphasises a more balanced assessment of potential harm and benefits resulting from a merger, the evidentiary requirements for demonstrating benefits remain significantly more demanding and the expanded theories of harm need to be accompanied by sufficient legal certainty and clear safeguards.
Der BDI ist so vielfältig wie auch die deutsche Industrie. Und doch spricht er mit einer Stimme! Die gemeinsame Meinungsbildung des Verbandes findet in einer Vielzahl von Gremien statt. Die Gremien-Broschüre bietet einen Überblick, welche Ausschüsse und Arbeitskreise für die Positionierung des BDI verantwortlich sind und welche Themen dort ganz konkret bearbeitet werden.
The European Commission is planning a tax omnibus package for the end of June 2026 to simplify direct taxation. However, real relief will only be achieved if overlaps are consistently eliminated and rules that hinder investment are corrected. Why a minimal compromise is not enough and where urgent action is needed is outlined below.
In her Political Guidelines for 2024–2029, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a “new approach” to competition policy, aimed at better aligning it with common European objectives and more supportive of companies scaling up in global markets. Against this backdrop, the European Commission is currently revising its merger control guidelines, which have remained unchanged for around 20 years and form the basis for assessing corporate mergers.
Reducing red tape is one of the most pressing economic policy challenges facing the EU. The European Commission’s new communication on better regulation demonstrates that Brussels has correctly identified the core problem. However, in the BDI’s view, the measures so far and those announced fall well short of what is required. Tangible relief for businesses will only materialise once the flow of new regulation is significantly reduced. This necessitates a fundamental shift in the mindset of EU regulators.
On 7 May 2026, the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on an Omnibus package for the AI Act. The debate around the AI Act goes beyond regulatory fine-tuning. At its core, it is about Europe’s ability to translate AI technologies into industrial applications – and in doing so, to strengthen value creation, resilience and technological sovereignty in a sustainable way. In an increasingly competitive global environment, it is crucial for Europe to combine ambitious regulatory objectives with a strong industrial base. The BDI is committed to ensuring that companies in Germany and across Europe can not only develop AI technologies, but also scale and deploy them widely in industrial contexts.
Wolfgang Niedermark, Mitglied der BDI-Hauptgeschäftsführung, zur Abstimmung im Europäischen Parlament über die Umsetzung des EU-USA-Handelsabkommens: „Wichtiger Schritt zur Stabilisierung der transatlantischen Handelsbeziehungen.“