A broad coalition of European industry, research institutions, think tanks and civil society organizations has reiterated its recommendations for the forthcoming Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), emphasizing the need to establish robust lead markets for European low-carbon products.
The group includes Spanish steelmaker Hydnum Steel and France-based sustainable iron producer GravitHy. While welcoming the European Commission’s push to promote clean manufacturing, the signatories warned that the Act’s initial ambition appears to have been diluted in its current draft form.
According to the coalition, demand-side measures in the draft are largely confined to public procurement and public support schemes, and to a narrow group of sectors such as steel, cement, aluminum and construction-related plastics. Although public procurement is acknowledged as a powerful instrument, the group argues that public demand alone will not be sufficient to create large-scale markets for low-carbon products. Limiting the scope to only a few sectors could also increase fragmentation within the EU market, the coalition said.
Concerns over low-carbon criteria and origin requirements
The coalition has also flagged uncertainty in the draft regarding the balance between low-carbon criteria and origin-based requirements in procurement and support schemes. The current wording leaves discretion to the Commission to choose between “minimum Union content” and “low-carbon Union content” requirements through implementing acts.
According to the signatories, this approach risks making decarbonization optional rather than central to the Act’s objective of accelerating industrial transformation. They added that voluntary labelling schemes, while useful in identifying first movers, are not sufficient to ensure fair competition between conventional and low-carbon products or to drive broad market uptake.
Lead markets seen as pillar of Clean Industrial Deal
Creating lead markets for clean industrial products is viewed as a core pillar of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal. Several member states, including France, Germany and Italy, have called for stronger EU-level action.
Industry and civil society representatives argue that combining public and private demand-side instruments is essential to establish a credible business case for decarbonization. Without predictable demand, investment in low-carbon production technologies may remain constrained.
Recommendations: broader scope and mandatory instruments
To strengthen the Industrial Accelerator Act, the coalition recommended expanding lead market measures to additional sectors such as chemicals, fertilizers and non-construction plastics, with tailored approaches reflecting their specific decarbonization pathways.
They also called for EU-wide, harmonized and performance-based product standards to support predictable private demand, including clearer timelines under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and the Construction Products Regulation.
In addition, the signatories advocated mandatory green public procurement with clear minimum quotas for both low-carbon content and EU/EEA origin requirements, ensuring that these criteria complement each other without distorting competition. Finally, they urged the introduction of durable and predictable private demand through gradual demand-side mandates, EU and national financial de-risking tools, and targeted incentives to support long-term offtake agreements.
According to the coalition, the Industrial Accelerator Act represents a timely opportunity to reinforce Europe’s industrial resilience, scale up net-zero technologies, support high-quality employment and strengthen competitiveness in the transition toward climate neutrality.
