Recommendations for an Industrial Accelerator Act to Unlock Industrial Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe

The joint statement argues that while the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) can transform Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) into clean industry hubs, it risks exacerbating regional disparities due to the CEE's narrower fiscal margins and higher energy costs compared to other EU states. To prevent industrial decline driven by 'subsidy races', the authors recommend combining EU content requirements with carbon and circularity criteria, establishing common EU labels for green steel, cement, and chemicals, and implementing Green Public Procurement (GPP) mandates. Specifically, the statement suggests that GPP mandates for low-carbon materials in infrastructure could increase public procurement budgets in CEE by between +0.11% in Austria and +1.35% in Romania. The authors also call for equitable access to EU-level funding and streamlined permitting for cross-border hydrogen and CO2 infrastructure to address the region's high energy costs.

• Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies are highly dependent on energy-intensive industries, with industry accounting for 21% to 33% of national GDP and producing nearly one-fifth of the EU's steel and one-third of its cement.
• The CEE region faces a risk of industrial downsizing and decline if the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) leads to 'subsidy races' or unequal access to support schemes, as the region has narrower fiscal margins and higher barriers to attracting private capital than other EU members.
• Implementing low-carbon criteria in public procurement for steel and cement would result in procurement cost increases of 0.6 - 1.3% for steel and 0.4 - 0.9% for cement, with the overall impact on CEE public procurement budgets ranging from +0.11% in Austria to +1.35% in Romania.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2025). Recommendations for an Industrial Accelerator Act to Unlock Industrial Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/28052724/CATF-Joint-Statement-Recommendations-for-an-Industrial-Accelerator-Act-to-Unlock-Industrial-Competitiveness-in-CEE.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Recommendations for an Industrial Accelerator Act to Unlock Industrial Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe. 2025. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/28052724/CATF-Joint-Statement-Recommendations-for-an-Industrial-Accelerator-Act-to-Unlock-Industrial-Competitiveness-in-CEE.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Recommendations for an Industrial Accelerator Act to Unlock Industrial Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe |date=28 November 2025 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/28052724/CATF-Joint-Statement-Recommendations-for-an-Industrial-Accelerator-Act-to-Unlock-Industrial-Competitiveness-in-CEE.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cleanairtaskforce2025recommendations, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Recommendations for an Industrial Accelerator Act to Unlock Industrial Competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/28052724/CATF-Joint-Statement-Recommendations-for-an-Industrial-Accelerator-Act-to-Unlock-Industrial-Competitiveness-in-CEE.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }