A British minister has cautioned that the European Union’s proposed “made in Europe” policy risks disrupting supply chains and erecting avoidable trade barriers between the UK and certain EU member states.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the UK’s minister for EU relations, raised concerns as the European Commission prepares to unveil draft legislation next week. The proposal would require a minimum proportion of publicly funded products in strategic sectors to be manufactured within Europe.
Speaking at an economic event in Madrid, Thomas-Symonds warned that imposing strict local content requirements could undermine the deeply integrated supply chains linking Britain and the EU.
“My concern is that if you had very strict preference requirements, you would risk impacting our deeply integrated supply chains, creating unnecessary barriers to trade in key UK-EU industries and increasing costs,” he said, adding that such measures would directly affect UK-Spain trade links.
He argued that both sides face the shared challenge of boosting competitiveness and productivity, stressing that economic cooperation remains essential. “The UK is the fourth largest investor in Spain. We are not going to meet those challenges by causing unnecessary economic damage to each other,” he said.
Six years after formally leaving the bloc, Britain — under Prime Minister Keir Starmer— has been seeking to reset diplomatic and economic ties with the EU, its largest trading partner. Starmer has indicated openness to closer alignment with the EU’s single market, which allows the free movement of goods, services, capital and people across member states.
The draft “made in Europe” framework defines Europe as the European Economic Area (EEA), covering the EU’s 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway — but excluding the UK. However, the proposal notes that other “trusted partners” could potentially be included at a later stage.
The initiative forms part of a broader EU strategy to strengthen domestic industries and reduce reliance on overseas suppliers in sectors such as clean energy and advanced manufacturing, amid rising competition from China and ongoing uncertainty over US trade policy.
