From jobs and innovation to energy savings and circular solutions, Europe’s home appliances make policy real in citizens’ lives.
Europe’s home appliance industry is a strategic part of Europe’s industrial base. It supports almost one million jobs, drives innovation and helps households use less energy and resources. But without the right conditions, Europe risks losing manufacturing capacity and investment.
Europe has the industry. Now it needs the conditions to keep it here. European manufacturers are investing in more efficient, connected and circular appliances. Yet rising costs, regulatory fragmentation and uneven competition are making it increasingly difficult to manufacture competitively in Europe.
Key challenges
01 — Rising costs. Upstream cost pressures are increasingly affecting downstream manufacturing.02 — Fragmented rules. National "gold-plating" and a maze of overlapping rules force manufacturers to navigate at least 20 different laws for a single washing machine, destroying economies of scale.03 — Unlevelled playing field. Compliant European manufacturers are being systematically undercut by a massive wave of 4.6 billion low-value imports entering the EU annually.04 — Weak investment conditions. Companies need stronger incentives to modernise, electrify and invest in European production.
What Europe can do
01 — Enforce the rules. Tighten customs controls and market surveillance on non-compliant e-commerce imports. 02 — Make European manufacturing competitive. Support investment in electrification, automation and R&D to offset rising production costs.03 — Make the Single Market work. Prevent fragmented national requirements from creating unnecessary costs and barriers.04 — Create demand for more efficient appliances. Use smart consumer incentives to accelerate replacement with more efficient appliances while supporting European production.
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