UK Chancellor to lobby EU ministers on inclusion in Made in Europe procurement plan
Chancellor John Healey will ask EU finance ministers in Dublin not to bar the UK from the Made in Europe procurement scheme and to keep trade barriers low.
John Healey, the UK Chancellor, is set to meet EU finance ministers in Dublin during the Ecofin summit to argue against excluding Britain from the Made in Europe procurement initiative. He intends to request that the EU design the scheme to deliver a fair deal for all participants rather than erecting additional trade barriers. Healey will also highlight the importance of drawing lessons from the recent breakdown of negotiations on the EU defence loans programme, Safe.
The Made in Europe plan, currently moving through the European Parliament under the industrial accelerator act, seeks to prioritize EU firms for public contracts and subsidies to protect continental manufacturing from global rivals, especially China. Industry groups fear that shutting British firms out could damage UK car and steel production, a concern echoed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. The discussion comes ahead of a postponed UK-EU reset summit aimed at resolving issues on food, carbon trading, defence cooperation and student tuition fees.
Why it matters
The outcome will affect UK businesses' access to EU contracts and the broader trade relationship between Britain and Europe.
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