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The European Commission confirmed to Euronews on Tuesday that draft legislation introducing a “buy European” approach to the single market has been delayed until January 2026.
Divisions among member states over imposing a “European preference” on non-European Union countries have prompted Commission vice president Stéphane Séjourné to postpone the proposal.
With competitors such as China and the United States putting pressure on EU industries, France launched the idea a few years ago to steer major contracts toward European industrial and tech champions, and it has since gained traction. But some governments remain concerned about its impact on EU businesses.
The issue was discussed on Monday at a meeting of industry ministers in Brussels. According to a document seen by Euronews, a group of nine countries – including Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Sweden and Slovakia – warned that the plan could have “consequences for effective competition, price and quality levels, and effects on businesses”.
Poland and the Netherlands also supported calls for an impact assessment.
“‘European preference’ criteria should be used only when other instruments have been carefully analysed and proved insufficient,” the document said, adding: “When used, the potential rules on European Preference need to focus on carefully defined strategic sectors, where the EU has a high-risk strategic dependency.”
A European preference for strategic sectors
According to an agenda seen by Euronews, the Commission’s proposal has now been rescheduled for 28 January 2026.
“We don’t want to apply European preference across the board,” the French delegate industry Sébastien Martin said, adding that it was nevertheless “essential to make progress” in sectors such as cars, chemicals, steel or pharmaceuticals.
Germany appeared aligned with France, questioning whether strategic vulnerabilities, monopolies held by non-EU countries, or advantages fuelled by subsidies – such as in China – might justify a European preference.
Imports of Chinese goods into the EU continue to raise concerns. The latest Chinese customs data show flows to the EU as a whole rising over the past year by 14.8%. That figure was 15.5% in Germany, 17.5% in France and 25.4% in Italy.
