Brussels, 9 July 2026

Honorable Members of the European Parliament,

As you are discussing the EU Industrial Accelerator Act, European workers in the whole automotive industry and its supply chain - in factories, laboratories, engineering offices, and testing centres - call on you to ensure that this legislation truly strengthens Europe’s industrial base and technological sovereignty. The Act must preserve manufacturing capacity and the more than 2 million direct manufacturing jobs across the whole supply chain; it must also create the conditions that anchor Europe’s leadership for the long term.

We are highly concerned that workers from the European auto industry and its supply chain are already facing:

• Decreasing production volumes due to loss of market shares abroad and increased competition on the domestic market
• A wave of deindustrialisation affecting hundreds of thousands of jobs per year
• A growing dependency on imported components
• A relocation trend in engineering and R&D centres
• A decline in investment in strategic technologies

In this context, workers and their trade unions expect from the EU an industrial policy with teeth, not just nice words.

The Industrial Accelerator Act must not introduce local content rules that fall below the levels already achieved today in European vehicles. According to recent scientific literature, 80-85% of the inputs used in the manufacturing of vehicles in the EU were sourced within Europe (JRC 2026). This must be seen as the minimum threshold to set local content requirements for the EU’s cars, bearing in mind that the long-term objective should be to enhance industrial autonomy and reduce dependence, especially for batteries and their components. Any reduction of ambition, for instance with the perverted use of the “fleet booster”, or with a too wide calculation methodology, would bring local content down to 55-60%, according to recent estimates made by GERPISA. This would accelerate offshoring, weaken supply chains, undermine Europe’s technological base and, at the end of the day, destroy good industrial jobs.

The IAA geographical scope must secure that “Made in Europe” means “Made in Europe” (i.e. EU27 + EFTA + UK + candidate countries having transposed the acquis communautaire in a way that prevents social and environmental dumping). The workers we represent would not accept having cars produced in other continents, including within “special economic zones”, where businesses benefit from favourable tax and regulatory conditions, being considered as “Made in Europe” and benefitting as such from incentives paid by taxpayers’ money. This would have a corrosive impact on the European automotive supply chain. The EU IAA and the Automotive Package must entail additional production volumes in Europe’s factories and their supply chains, and not serve the corporate strategy aiming to keep offshoring of their activities in low-cost regions.

While car makers are deepening partnerships with their foreign competitors, the IAA must secure that foreign direct investments in strategic manufacturing sectors will benefit local workers and communities and lead to the creation of new jobs. To that end, foreign investments must fulfill binding conditions in terms of capital ownership, intellectual property rights, R&D spending, social conditionalities for the entire workforce, and Union sourcing for components. IndustriAll Europe welcomes the approach proposed by the European Commission but here again, the percentages and thresholds attached to those conditions must improve the existing situation and not create conditions for deterioration. Conditions limited to investments of over 100 million euros are not a guarantee to improve the current situation.

Honorable Members, the Industrial Accelerator Act will be judged by one decisive question: Does it keep and strengthen industrial and technological capabilities, and related jobs, in Europe?

Workers are asking for coherence, fairness, and ambition. Europe’s industrial future must be designed, engineered, and built in Europe, under European social standards, and with European’s long-term interest as a compass.

We trust you will ensure that the Act reflects this responsibility. Thank you.

With determination and solidarity,