Joint Statement- Europe Industrial Transformation: How Can We Advance Further and Faster
Advanced Manufacturing is the technological backbone behind the EU's industrial base. The number of European companies active in it has more than doubled since 2009, from around 1,900 companies to over 4,500 today, generating some 18,000 patent applications during that period.
Advanced industrial capabilities are fundamental for Europe’s capacity to produce, innovate and grow. By improving productivity, flexibility, quality and resource efficiency, Advanced Manufacturing enables European companies to develop and scale the products on which strategic value chains depend. It plays a critical role in strategically important areas such as aerospace and defence, nuclear and clean energy, semiconductors, medical technologies and critical infrastructure.
Europe must avoid structural dependencies on external suppliers for essential production technologies and boost its leadership and capabilities in areas where it already possesses strong industrial capabilities, skills and technological know-how.
However, EU industrial policy often follows narrow, scattered, sector-specific approaches. These fragmented approaches create barriers to innovation and scaling up and fail to provide sufficient support for horizontal enabling technologies such as machine tools, automation, industrial AI and robotics.
Europe’s technological leadership is under pressure. The EU hosts only around 10% of global Advanced Manufacturing firms, compared to 45% in China, and attracts merely 4% of global venture capital in this area. Competitors have moved faster to support Advanced Manufacturing through dedicated, coordinated strategies, while the EU has no equivalent approach to match these strategies.
Europe’s manufacturing-technology base also faces growing pressure. European machine-tool production fell by 8.6% in 2024, with a further contraction of 6.6% estimated for 2025. Industrial robot installations are slowing in key EU manufacturing sectors. These trends risk weakening demand, scale and investment across manufacturing technologies that are critical to European productivity, high-quality jobs and exports.
The document calls on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to launch a dedicated own-initiative (INI) Report on Advanced Manufacturing, providing strong strategic recognition and a clear political mandate for the development of a European Advanced Manufacturing Strategy (EAMS).
Four-point plan for a European Advanced Manufacturing Strategy
- Explicit recognition of Advanced Manufacturing as a strategic horizontal priority for EU industrial policy, acknowledging its role as an enabler for all industrial ecosystems.
- Development of a comprehensive and coherent European Advanced Manufacturing Strategy by the European Commission, integrating industrial policy, research and innovation, investment, skills, trade and key guiding principles for future regulatory frameworks, while safeguarding the Single Market, remaining technology-neutral and avoiding new administrative burdens for companies.
- Recognition of Advanced Manufacturing as a research and investment priority in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the EU's research and innovation framework, to mobilise targeted public and private investment, improve access to scale-up finance and support industrial deployment. Horizon Europe should feature a dedicated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) on Advanced Manufacturing.
- Securing a level playing field and promoting fair global competition for Advanced Manufacturing, including appropriate EU trade defence and deterrence, stronger Market Surveillance and consistent enforcement of EU rules, without increasing the burden on compliant companies.
Addressing this four-point plan will give Advanced Manufacturing a clear place in European industrial policy and help translate Europe’s technological strengths into competitive production capacity. CECIMO and Orgalim stand ready to support the European Parliament with technical expertise and input as this work moves forward.