The Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) has published its official position on the European Union’s proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), backing the Made in Europe concept while firmly opposing any implementation that would penalize production chains already established outside the Union, particularly in Morocco and Turkey. The statement marks the first time the association has formally and publicly staked out its position ahead of the parliamentary vote on the legislation.
The ACEA’s core concern is that major European manufacturers including Renault and Stellantis have built euro-Mediterranean production architectures in which Morocco plays an integral industrial role. The association argues that the country is no longer a simple external supplier but a productive base deeply embedded in European manufacturers’ global strategies, factory networks and supply chains. Applying IAA provisions in a way that disrupts these established relationships would, in the ACEA’s view, paradoxically weaken the competitiveness of European automotive groups rather than strengthen it.
To protect these existing investments, the ACEA is requesting a grandfathering clause — a provision that would shield capacities established before a fixed cut-off date from the new requirements. This protection would apply only to operations already in existence at the time the IAA is published, not to future implantations, and would cease to apply in the event of a change in ownership. The association also proposes that any manufacturer achieving Made in Europe compliance on 70 percent of its fleet in a given year should be allowed to apply the resulting regulatory benefits to its full fleet in the following year. In its proposed scope, the exemption for Morocco and Turkey would be explicitly written into the geographic calculation.
The position of the European Automotive Suppliers Association (CLEPA) is considerably more restrictive. CLEPA defines the eligible geographic perimeter as the EU27, the United Kingdom and EFTA countries, and argues that any future extension to third-party countries — including Morocco — should be conditional on clear, verifiable criteria: effective market access, regulatory alignment, the absence of distortive subsidies, supply chain transparency and a demonstrated contribution to European industrial competitiveness and economic security.
The divergence between the two associations reflects a deeper methodological disagreement. CLEPA reasons primarily from a parts and components perspective, while ACEA argues that the value of a finished vehicle — including assembly operations, engineering, skilled labor and the full upstream chain — should define the calculation base. If the CLEPA approach prevails in the final legislative text, access to the IAA’s advantages could become significantly harder to obtain for platforms operating in countries such as Morocco, with implications for the scale and continuity of Moroccan automotive investment.