EU delays 'Made in Europe' plan after disagreements over scope

BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Monday it had delayed the announcement of a policy to prioritise industrial parts and products made in Europe by a week after disagreements over the geographic scope of the scheme.

The measures - which would set minimum thresholds for locally made parts in projects using public funds in strategic sectors including batteries, solar and wind energy and nuclear power - were scheduled to be announced on Thursday.

"Following discussion ... presentation of the IAA is now scheduled for the 4th of March,” a spokesperson for the office of Commission Executive Vice President Stéphane Séjourné said, referring to the policies that would be drawn up under the new Industrial Accelerator Act.

Governments including France have been championing the idea of "Made in Europe" regulations, arguing that European industries need protection in the face of cheaper imports from markets, including China, with looser environmental and other regulations.

But others, including Sweden and the Czech Republic, warn that "buy local" requirements could deter investment, raise prices in government tenders, and hurt the EU's competitiveness globally.

Carmakers and other industries have called for the protections to be extended beyond the EU and EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) to include other territories in their supply chains including Britain and Turkey.

The IAA is part of the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal, adopted in February last year to boost the bloc's global competitiveness particularly with U.S. and Chinese rivals.

“We hope that this additional week of internal discussions will allow to make the proposal even more rock-solid," the Commission spokesperson said.