FEDIL Calls for Urgent Policy Action at European Industry Summit

On Wednesday 11 February 2026, Luxembourg business federation FEDIL represented by its Director René Winkin, took part in the European Industry Summit held in Antwerp, Belgium.

The President of the European Commission, alongside several Heads of State and Government, attended the event, where industry organisations and business leaders jointly addressed EU decision-makers.

According to FEDIL, the European industrial community issued a warning, calling for clear and “courageous” political commitments to help reversing a situation that is becoming untenable for European industry and its companies.

This appeal also addressed European Union (EU) leaders who were meeting the next day, on Thursday 12 February 2026, for an informal reflection session, devoted to strengthening the Single Market and competitiveness.

FEDIL said it highlighted during the summit that Europe’s industries and businesses face persistently high energy and carbon costs alongside unfair trade practices, while site closures and job losses continue at an unprecedented pace. The organisation added that the Draghi Report remains unimplemented and warned that the next five years will prove particularly challenging for European industry.

FEDIL also stressed that the Antwerp Declaration requires urgent and concrete implementation. “We urge you to move from diagnosis to delivery and from plans to results, with a single objective: Save our industry. Not next year, not next week, but today. We need Alden Biesen to deliver joint actions that achieve results in 2026, a package of emergency industrial policy measures,” stated Director René Winkin.

FEDIL also pointed to increasing global competition, noting China’s rapid industrial expansion and decarbonisation efforts, as well as assertive industrial and trade policies of the United States (US). 

While acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, the organisation urged leaders to translate the Clean Industrial Deal into “outcomes felt on factory floors in 2026”.

Presented on behalf of the signatories of the Antwerp Declaration at the summit, the European industrial community called for action in three key areas:

• bringing energy and carbon costs down;

• supporting fair global trade and improving access to the finance;

• empowering consumers to choose net-zero and circular products, which are made in Europe.