Europe needs to protect its own industries with a “Made in Europe” strategy, EU industry chief Stephane Sejourne said in a newspaper article published on Sunday evening, co-signed by more than 1,100 CEOs and other business leaders.

“Without an ambitious, effective and pragmatic industrial policy, the European economy is doomed to be just a playground for its competitors,” Sejourne said in the article that was published in newspapers across Europe.

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“We must establish, once and for all, a genuine European preference in our most strategic sectors,” the French member of the European Commission said.

Sejourne’s opinion piece comes ahead of the proposed implementation of the Commission’s Industrial Accelerator Act later this month, which will likely set requirements to prioritise locally manufactured products.

The proposal is an attempt to boost European industries in the face of cheaper imports from China, but has split EU countries.

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