The event was preceded by the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding initiative led by MEP Dariusz Joński (EPP, Poland) to support the competitiveness of Europe’s home appliance industry. The initiative was co-signed by several Members of the European Parliament, reflecting growing political attention to the challenges facing one of Europe’s key manufacturing sectors.
The discussion comes at a critical moment for Europe’s home appliance industry. The sector contributes nearly €80 billion in value added to the European economy, supports almost one million jobs across the value chain and operates more than 130 manufacturing sites across Europe. It also underpins a wider industrial ecosystem spanning steel, electronics, advanced components, logistics and recycling.
Yet the sector is facing growing pressure. Over the past decade, the share of household appliances produced in Europe has fallen from 81.3% to 71.4%, while more than 20,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last five years alone. These trends have raised concerns about Europe’s ability to maintain industrial capacity, technological leadership and strategic resilience in a sector that serves more than 200 million households across the continent.
Against this backdrop, APPLiA’s high-level debate on securing the competitiveness of Europe’s home appliance industry gathered representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission, Member States and industry to discuss how Europe can keep manufacturing, skills and innovation anchored on the continent while advancing its climate, energy and circular economy objectives.
Opening the discussion, MEP Dariusz Joński underscored the urgent need for decisive political action to safeguard the home appliance sector amid an increasingly challenging global trade environment. Highlighting the deteriorating economic conditions facing the industry, he stressed that “the time to act is now, as 1 million jobs are at stake.”
In his introductory remarks, APPLiA Director General Paolo Falcioni warned that Europe’s industrial, energy and circular economy ambitions cannot be achieved without a strong manufacturing base to support them.
“The question before us is not whether Europe will continue to use refrigerators, washing machines or other essential technologies,” he said. “The question is whether Europe will continue to design, engineer and manufacture them.”
Falcioni emphasised that preserving Europe’s production capacity extends beyond the interests of a single sector and should be viewed as a strategic industrial policy priority. “So far, our sector has mainly been the target of product legislation, which has been a necessary step to improve product performance and quality. However, it has never been considered through the lens of industrial policy. This is precisely the political message conveyed by this memorandum,” he argued. If Europe wants to remain a place that makes things, innovates and leads the green transition, strategic manufacturing ecosystems must be recognised, valued and actively supported as an integral part of that vision.
The discussion reflected a growing concern that Europe’s policy ambitions are moving faster than the conditions needed to sustain industrial production. High energy costs, rising input prices, global competitive pressures and increasing regulatory complexity are placing manufacturers under strain. At the same time, companies are being asked to invest in decarbonisation, circularity, repairability, digitalisation and new consumer requirements.
Several speakers highlighted the need for a more predictable and coherent regulatory framework. MEP Dirk Gotink pointed to the growing competitive pressure facing European industry in an increasingly integrated global marketplace, stressing that stronger enforcement and greater investment are essential to maintaining Europe’s industrial competitiveness. He also underlined the importance of ensuring that EU rules are effectively implemented across Member States.
Representing the Council perspective, Martin Bednář, Head of Unit for Internal Market and Competitiveness at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, echoed these concerns and emphasised the untapped potential of the Single Market. While welcoming the renewed focus on competitiveness, he argued that Europe must do more to remove barriers to the free movement of goods, services and labour and make better use of its internal strengths.
MEP Andi-Lucian Cristea, meanwhile, emphasised the socioeconomic dimension of the manufacturing crisis, reminding the room that “Europe must remain a place that produces as well as consumes.” His intervention underscored the fundamental role of manufacturing in supporting prosperity, resilience and strategic autonomy.”
Together, these contributions reflected a broader challenge facing European policymakers: how to ensure that regulation supports the green transition while strengthening competitiveness and preserving the industrial base required to deliver it.
From the European Commission side, Rosalinde van der Vlies, Director for Just Transition, Consumers, Energy Efficiency and Innovation at DG Energy, emphasised that Europe’s decarbonisation agenda must go hand in hand with industrial competitiveness, resilience and economic independence. While reaffirming the value of horizontal policy frameworks, she argued that policymakers must now pay greater attention to the specific needs of individual sectors and better assess the cumulative impact of legislation developed across different policy areas. Her intervention reflected a growing recognition within the Commission that the green transition can only succeed if it is accompanied by a strong manufacturing base, greater policy coherence and closer cooperation between EU institutions, national governments and industry. She also welcomed the memorandum and suggested that its message should reach the highest levels of the European Commission.
Martin Becker, Deputy Head of Unit at DG TAXUD, focused on the challenge of ensuring that climate and trade measures reinforce rather than undermine Europe’s industrial capacity. Discussing the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), he highlighted the need to strike the right balance between protecting upstream industries and maintaining the competitiveness of downstream manufacturing sectors. His remarks echoed broader concerns raised throughout the discussion about preserving a level playing field for European producers in an increasingly complex global market.
Industry representatives reinforced these concerns, warning that the erosion of Europe’s manufacturing base would have consequences extending far beyond production capacity alone. Konrad Pokutycki, Chief Executive Officer of BSH Poland, stressed the close relationship between manufacturing, innovation and research, arguing that industrial capacity and technological leadership are inseparable. In his view, losing factories would ultimately mean losing the innovation ecosystems and strategic autonomy that depend on them.
Robert Stobiński, Chief Executive Officer of Amica Group, highlighted the competitive pressures faced by European manufacturers in a global market where producers often benefit from more favourable energy, labour and fiscal conditions. He called for measures to ensure a level playing field, strengthen the visibility and value of European-made products, and stimulate demand for goods manufactured within the EU.
The debate also looked beyond home appliances alone. Alexis van Maercke, Director General of Detergents Europe, noted that many of the same challenges are being experienced across connected value chains and consumer-facing industries. He argued that competitiveness discussions often focus on upstream industries while overlooking the downstream sectors that transform materials and components into products used daily by citizens.
Across the discussion, three priorities emerged.
First, Europe needs a regulatory framework that gives industry the confidence to invest for the long term. Manufacturers require predictability, access to financing and rules that are coherent across policy areas.
Second, competitiveness depends on effective enforcement. European manufacturers should compete on quality, innovation and sustainability, not against products that circumvent EU rules or enter the market without facing comparable costs.
Third, Europe’s industrial strategy must recognise the sectors that turn strategic inputs into essential products. Home appliances are central to energy efficiency, circularity, repairability and everyday consumer welfare. Their role should therefore be reflected in Europe’s industrial, energy and circular economy policies.
Ultimately, the debate highlighted a strategic choice facing Europe. While the continent continues to set ambitious sustainability objectives, its ability to achieve them will depend on preserving the industrial ecosystems that turn policy ambition into products, technologies, jobs and innovation. For Europe’s home appliance industry, the message was clear: competitiveness, manufacturing and sustainability can no longer be treated as separate agendas.
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