European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has thrown her weight behind a bold "Made-in-Europe" initiative, urging the bloc to reclaim dominance in critical strategic sectors amid escalating global trade tensions and supply chain vulnerabilities. Speaking at a high-level summit in Brussels, von der Leyen declared that the EU must prioritize domestic production in areas like semiconductors, green technologies, and pharmaceuticals to safeguard its economic sovereignty and reduce reliance on foreign powers.
The push comes as the EU grapples with its post-pandemic recovery and the fallout from Russia's war in Ukraine, which exposed stark dependencies on non-EU suppliers for everything from energy to raw materials. Von der Leyen highlighted recent successes, such as the European Chips Act, which has already attracted billions in investments from companies like Intel and TSMC to build fabs on European soil. "We cannot afford to be at the mercy of others when it comes to the technologies that define our future," she stated, calling for accelerated funding and regulatory streamlining to make Europe the world's most attractive hub for strategic manufacturing.
Strategic sectors targeted include batteries for electric vehicles, where China currently controls over 80% of global capacity, as well as defense equipment and advanced biotech. The Commission plans to propose a €100 billion industrial fund by mid-2026, drawing from the NextGenerationEU recovery package and private sector partnerships. This builds on the Critical Raw Materials Act, aimed at securing domestic supplies of lithium, cobalt, and rare earths essential for the green transition.
Industry leaders have welcomed the rhetoric, with ASML's CEO noting that European incentives could counter U.S. Inflation Reduction Act subsidies luring firms across the Atlantic. However, skeptics within the bloc, particularly from Germany and France, warn of ballooning costs and potential trade retaliations from Beijing and Washington. Eastern European nations, meanwhile, see opportunities for new factories but demand fair allocation of funds to avoid a north-south divide.
Analysts view von der Leyen's stance as a pivotal shift toward "economic nationalism" within the EU's open-market framework, potentially reshaping global supply chains. If successful, it could create hundreds of thousands of high-skilled jobs and bolster Europe's geopolitical clout; failure, however, risks fragmenting the single market and inflating consumer prices at a time of lingering inflation pressures.
