Miele’s Dr. Reinhard Zinkann elected President of Europe’s home appliance association, APPLiA

Thursday 11 June 2026, Dublin (Ireland) - APPLiA - Home Appliance Europe today announced the election of Dr. Reinhard Zinkann, Executive Director and Co-Proprietor of the Miele Group, as the Association’s new President. Dr. Zinkann succeeds Hakan Bulgurlu, former CEO of Beko, at a pivotal moment for Europe’s home appliance industry.

Dr. Reinhard Zinkann, Executive Director & Co-Proprietor of Miele Group and APPLiA’s Incoming President “The competitiveness of Europe’s home appliance industry is at risk. As I take the lead of the APPLiA Presidency, my focus will be on championing a coherent European industrial strategy that defends our manufacturing base, rewards local innovation, and removes the regulatory fragmentation that hinders our growth. We must work together to ensure that Europe becomes competitive again to ensure its leading role as a hub for sustainable, high-quality home appliances.”

The home appliance sector is one of Europe’s last large-scale, fully integrated manufacturing ecosystems. It anchors complex value chains across steel, electronics, semiconductors, and chemicals—sustaining 1 million jobs and over 130 manufacturing sites across the continent. Beyond its economic footprint, the sector is a critical enabler of EU climate goals. Over the past 30 years, the companies’ constant innovation power has improved consumers lives across the EU. Particularly  energy-efficient appliances reduced consumers’ energy consumption by roughly 65%[1] and leave room for further energy savings in a market with more than 200 million households.

However, this vital infrastructure is facing unprecedented, compounding pressures:

1. Surging input costs: Rising energy, material, logistics, and labor costs, combined with the financial burden of decarbonisation, have inflated European production costs amidst fragile consumer demand.
2. Regulatory fragmentation: Manufacturers face a complex web of overlapping rules (including the ESPR, Data Act, WEEE Directive etc.). A single washing machine is now subject to at least 10 different laws. Furthermore, diverging national initiatives (such as the French durability index and unique packaging laws), alongside delays in EU harmonised standards, have forced costly product variations and created deep legal uncertainty.
3. Uneven enforcement: Weak market surveillance by EU Member States allows non-compliant imports to enter the Single Market. In 2024 alone, 4.6 billion low-value consignments entered the EU, undercutting responsible local manufacturers.

The consequences of these challenges are already visible. Between 2021 and 2026, the sector lost more than 20,000 manufacturing jobs and profitability declined sharply. While Europe’s domestic home appliance production has declined over the past decade, the import from other regions of the world increased. Once European production lines shut down, they rarely return—leaving Europe dependent on imported appliances to meet its climate goals.

To safeguard this critical ecosystem and keep on serving consumers with domestically produced high-quality products, APPLiA is calling for a coherent European industrial strategy centered on three pillars:

• Levelling the playing field: Strengthening coordinated market surveillance, tightening customs controls on non-compliant imports, and closing regulatory gaps—such as addressing the interaction between the ETS and CBAM for finished goods—to prevent carbon arbitrage.
• Streamlining regulation: Reducing administrative burdens, eliminating regulatory fragmentation across Member States, and ensuring that frameworks remain technology-neutral to foster true innovation.
• Boosting competitiveness and investment: Enabling industrial modernisation through electrification, energy efficiency, and automation to keep manufacturing and R&D firmly rooted in Europe.

Without a shift in mindset among EU policymakers and in member states, the competitiveness of the home appliance industry is at stake.

Dr. Zinkann’s presidency will be defined by a commitment to safeguarding European manufacturing. As he begins the mandate, his core mission will be to champion the one million workers who sustain this vital sector, ensuring that European policymakers recognise home appliances not just as everyday conveniences, but as the critical infrastructure required to achieve Europe’s green and economic future.

[1] European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy. 2025 Ecodesign Impact Accounting Overview Report. Brussels: European Commission, 2025. https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/418195ae-4919-45fa-a959-3b695c9aab28/library/c06608a7-9e47-4737-b0d2-da9aec097171/details