Made in Europe

Europe is entering a more interventionist phase of industrial policy as tariffs, state support and policies favouring domestic production play a larger role in the global economy. Made in Europe (MiE) is part of that response, with measures such as the Industrial Accelerator Act seeking to direct more of the EU’s roughly €2tn annual public-procurement market towards European production.

This paper examines the six policy blocks that make up the Made in Europe framework and how they could affect European industry. Europe already has a substantial manufacturing base, so the first effects may be seen in fuller order books and higher utilisation at existing facilities before they translate into a broader expansion in capacity.

The paper also introduces the FTSE Made in Europe 50 Index, a rules-based index of 50 EU-27 companies. The methodology scores subsectors against the six policy blocks and then adjusts company-level exposure according to the share of revenue generated in Europe, identifying companies where policy support overlaps with an existing commercial link to the region.

 Key takeaways

• Europe is balancing open trade with a more active industrial policy
  Europe remains more reliant on open cross-border trade than the US or China, but a world increasingly shaped by tariffs, state support and policies favouring domestic production, policymakers are taking a more active approach to strengthening European industry.
• Public spending is a powerful policy lever
  The Made in Europe agenda seeks to convert more European demand into production within the bloc, with the EU's public procurement market of approximately €2 trillion annually acting as a key mechanism for implementation.
• Existing industrial capacity may be most directly exposed to policy changes
  Europe retains a substantial manufacturing base. As a result, the earliest impact of policy initiatives may be increased utilisation and higher order volumes at existing facilities before a broader expansion of industrial capacity takes place.
• Policy exposure is not evenly distributed
  The FTSE Made in Europe 50 Index focuses on companies where policy alignment and European revenue exposure intersect, creating a portfolio that can differ significantly from the broader European equity market.

Points of differentiation: 

• Brings six separate EU policy pillars together within a single Made in Europe investment framework.
• Connects policy priorities directly to listed companies through subsector scoring and company-specific European revenue exposure.
• Highlights how businesses with existing European capacity may experience the earliest policy impacts before a wider manufacturing build-out occurs.
• Demonstrates how policy themes translate into index construction, with stronger exposure to Industrials, Basic Materials and Utilities, and lower exposure to Technology relative to broader European benchmarks.

What does our research mean for investors? 

Made in Europe may have different implications across European industries and companies rather than affecting the market uniformly. The research examines how factors such as European production capacity, alignment with policy measures and revenue exposure to the region are reflected within the FTSE Made in Europe 50 Index methodology. The FTSE Made in Europe 50 Index is designed to capture this exposure through a transparent, rules-based methodology, providing a systematic view of companies with exposure to the policy framework described in the paper.