BRUSSELS — The European Commission will adopt the Industrial Accelerator Act on Wednesday, finally backing the bill to boost local producers of windmills, solar panels or electric vehicle batteries after weeks of wrangling and delays.
Haggling over the planned regulation went right down to the wire, with a meeting of Cabinet chiefs that began on Monday spilling into Tuesday, the day before commissions President Ursula von der Leyen’s College of Commissioners will now sign off on an agreed text. According to one Commission official, another 44 changes were made to the draft at the meeting that ran into overtime.
Paula Pinho, the Commission’s chief spokesperson, confirmed at Tuesday’s regular midday briefing that “commissioners are expected to adopt a proposal for an Industrial Accelerator Act.”
The landmark measure would define a “Made in EU” preference in green public procurement — while pushing back a decision for six months on whether friendly third countries can be included in its scope. This means that, even after Wednesday’s announcement, countries like the U.K. or Switzerland will still need to lobby to get inside the tent.
