• "We are disappointed that the Commission President continues to describe the customs deal between the EU and the US as a guarantee for stability in relations with the US. machinery companies, which have been hit hard by the additional punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum, see an urgent need for renegotiation."

• "For large European industrial sectors such as machinery, trade with the US has become even more unpredictable and in some cases even impossible since the deal was signed. The EU must urgently renegotiate this agreement."

• "Ursula von der Leyen rightly emphasizes that competitiveness is the basis for independence and industrial strength is a prerequisite for security in Europe. However, the EU Commission should not succumb to the illusion that competitiveness can be achieved through protective industrial policies for individual sectors."

• "What is needed instead is to strengthen Europe as a business location across the board. Otherwise, there is a risk that the EU will get bogged down in costly individual economic and social policy initiatives such as a 'small affordable car' project or the creation of individual lead markets."

• "Regulatory simplification, which the Commission had announced as one of its priorities, plays a central role in strengthening Europe as a business location. Ursula von der Leyen was right to refer to the omnibus initiatives. However, further clear signals would have been desirable here to show that the issue is being pursued with determination."

• "The EU Parliament is also called upon here to pragmatically support the EU Commission's simplification plans and not to sacrifice the many good approaches to ideological trench warfare.

VDMA Executive Director Thilo Brodtmann

The VDMA represents 3,600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The companies employ a total of around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. It accounts for an estimated turnover of around 870 billion euros in the European Union. Around 80 percent of the machines sold in the EU originate from a manufacturing facility in the internal market.