EU's 'Made in Europe' Rules Won't Break China Dependency

Brussels proposed its most assertive industrial sovereignty push yet on 4 March 2026, combining local content mandates with a legal move to eject Huawei and ZTE from EU telecom networks. But analysts warn the Industrial Accelerator Act cannot close the competitiveness gap while European energy costs run 2.4 times higher than China's. For founders and investors, the real risk is regulatory arbitrage — not strategic autonomy.

What happened in China China does not need to do much. It already controls over 80% of global battery manufacturing capacity and solar photovoltaic production — a figure cited in the European Commission's own proposal document, COM(2026) 100. As Brussels debates how to reduce that dependency, Beijing's industrial position is structural, not circumstantial. EU-China relations entered 2026 in a phase of cautious engagement following trade frictions and rare earth supply disruptions, and China's grip on strategic supply chains remains the baseline against which every European policy response must be measured. ## How it works / the detail On 4 March 2026, the European Commission formally proposed the Industrial Accelerator Act, registered as COM(2026) 100. The IAA introduces a framework of measures to accelerate industrial capacity and decarbonisation across strategic manufacturing sectors. In parallel, Brussels has proposed legally mandating the removal of Huawei and ZTE from EU telecom networks, citing…

EU's 'Made in Europe' Rules Won't Break China Dependency

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