Brussels, 4th March 2026 – The Industrial Accelerator Act, released today by the Commission, was initially expected to focus on: reinforcing the industrial capacity in Europe for EU clean technologies, and enabling other industries to stay competitive via access to affordable energy, reliable supply chains, leading to favorable competitive positioning of EU-made products and the protection of millions of jobs in Europe.
Whilst earlier drafts of the Act explicitly supported solar thermal with concrete proposals, we are deeply concerned that a last-minute change in the version released today removes solar thermal from the scope of Made in Europe, public interventions and public procurement provisions. This deletion would weaken demand signals for EU manufactured solar thermal, tilt the playing field towards cheaper imports and undermine a European solar thermal value chain that supports thousands of manufacturing and skilled supply chain jobs across the EU.
The Industrial Accelerator Act rightly targets net zero technologies where Europe has lost manufacturing capacity and competitiveness, with the aim of bringing production back to the continent. However, the draft released today overlooks a renewable technology that is already manufactured in Europe: solar thermal. By failing to explicitly include solar thermal in Made in Europe, public procurement and public support provisions, the Act risks producing the opposite effect of its stated ambition: it weakens Europe’s own clean heat supply chain and opens the door to unfair competition, leaving EU-made solar thermal at a disadvantage versus other net zero technologies.
- Made in Europe means protecting and scaling what Europe already manufactures. Solar thermal is manufactured in Europe by more than 100 companies.
- Affordable energy means reducing gas exposure now. Solar thermal delivers local, predictable heat for buildings, industry and district heating.
- Competitiveness means cutting grid pressure. Solar thermal decarbonises heat without adding to peak power demand.
“This is not a sectoral special plea. It is a consistency check. If the EU wants Made in Europe to mean something, it cannot exclude a proven clean technology that Europe already makes.” said Guglielmo Cioni, President of Solar Heat Europe.
Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past: the European Union must protect renewable energy technologies produced in Europe from unfair competition from imported products. We call on the co-legislators to reinsert European solar thermal under Made in Europe requirements, including provisions related to public procurement and other forms of public intervention, restoring solar thermal to its rightful place in the Industrial Accelerator Act. Now is the time to support vibrant and proven EU clean technologies.