23.09.2026 - "Unilateral economic dependencies are increasingly being politically instrumentalised worldwide, often to the detriment of many companies. The EU therefore needs tools that purposefully strengthen its economic resilience while largely avoiding state-controlled trade and new bureaucracy.

The Chips Act 2.0 and the raw material projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act can make an important contribution to specifically reducing dependencies on strategic technologies and critical raw materials. However, a general diversification strategy cannot be mandated from the drawing board: companies are already broadening their supply chains and discovering new sources. They are diversifying. European policymakers should focus on creating better framework conditions, safeguards, and market access instead of imposing additional requirements on companies. The same standard must apply to the Industrial Accelerator Act. While European origin criteria may give parts of domestic industry a short-term boost, they can even be counterproductive for the broader economy and are certainly no substitute for improved location conditions. Rather, they risk introducing new costs and bureaucracy.

Europe above all needs better framework conditions for investments, innovation, and industrial value creation. Economic resilience cannot, on a resource-poor continent, be achieved through isolation. The key is to reduce critical dependencies in a targeted way while remaining open to trade, investments, and new partners."