France and Germany are split over whether Canadian companies would qualify for a “Made in Europe” preference in EU public contracts, a dispute that Ireland, which chairs EU talks until the end of 2026, aims to settle by December.
The fight is over the European Commission’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, presented on March 4, 2026, which would require European content in public procurement and subsidy schemes for steel, cement, aluminium, automobiles and net-zero technologies such as batteries, solar, wind, heat pumps and nuclear. For electric cars, the draft requires at least 70 per cent of non-battery components to be made in the EU, Eunews reported.
Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche told EU industry ministers on Sept. 24 that the law should follow a “made with Europe” principle, extending the preference to partners that give European firms equivalent market access. She named Norway, Switzerland and Canada as countries that could qualify, Euronews reported.
France wants a strict EU-only preference. The Rio Times, summarizing an Oct. 8 report by EU Today that Canada News Media has not read directly, said Paris wants the label limited to production inside the EU’s 27 member states, while Berlin would include partners such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
Spain has proposed a compromise with three tiers, according to Euronews. The first is the 27 EU members. The second adds European Economic Area countries such as Norway and trusted partners that offer reciprocal procurement access. The third covers countries with free trade agreements or customs unions with the EU, and members of the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement.
Italy has not taken a clear position. Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso has said only that he favours a European preference that stays open to “strategic partners”, Euronews reported.
The Commission’s own draft already points toward partners. It uses the 22 non-EU parties to the Government Procurement Agreement as a starting list, and Canada is on it, Eunews reported. The Commission could later remove countries that do not play by the rules.
“When public money is at stake, we will impose European preference,” Commission Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné said, as quoted by Eunews.
For Canada, the outcome decides whether firms can compete for European public contracts that carry a local-content test. The Canada-EU trade agreement, which has applied provisionally since September 2017, already includes a public procurement chapter.
The debate comes as Ottawa looks for closer ties with Europe during its trade war with the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Sept. 16 that Canada become an associate member of the EU, as Canada News Media reported. That status has no basis in the EU treaties. The sources reviewed did not include a statement from the Canadian government on the procurement debate.
The proposal must still win agreement from the 27 member states in the Council and from the European Parliament. Any Council compromise sought by Ireland by December would not be final law.
Via Euronews, Eunews and The Rio Times. Positions of governments are as described in those reports; this story is developing.
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