Europe Should Adopt a 'Made in Europe' Industrial Strategy to Counter Economic Threats
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial. "The Guardian view on a ‘Made in Europe’ industrial strategy: an idea whose time has come | Editorial | The Guardian." February 11, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Europe should copy what America and China do - prioritize buying from their own companies when governments spend money. The world has become too dangerous and competitive for Europe to keep playing by free trade rules while others don't.
Conclusion
The European Union should implement a 'Made in Europe' industrial strategy that prioritizes European production when spending public money, similar to existing defense procurement policies
Premises
- Europe faces unprecedented economic insecurity from Trump's America First policies and tariff threats
- China's hi-tech competition threatens to overwhelm European industry in key sectors like green technology
- The transatlantic alliance can no longer be relied upon for defense, requiring European strategic autonomy
- Other major economic powers already have similar protectionist policies (China's 'Made in China', America's 'Buy American')
- The EU has already successfully implemented European preference in defense procurement through the Safe scheme
- A single market of 450 million people provides sufficient scale to make such a strategy viable
- Combined with increased investment in green technology and tech, this approach could boost EU competitiveness
Assumptions
- Economic nationalism and protectionism are necessary responses to current global conditions
- The benefits of strategic autonomy outweigh the costs of reduced free trade
- Other countries will not retaliate significantly against European protectionist measures
- European companies can become competitive enough to justify preferential treatment
- The current global economic system is fundamentally 'transactional' rather than cooperative