Industrial Accelerator Act: Batteries, Steel and DPP

What Is the Industrial Accelerator Act?

On 4 March 2026, the European Commission published a proposal for the European Industrial Accelerator Act. The package introduces procurement preferences for Made-in-EU and low-carbon products in selected strategic sectors, while also setting conditions for certain major foreign investments. For InfoDPP readers, the most relevant sectors covered by the proposal are:

• steel
• cement
• aluminium
• batteries, including proposed rules for battery energy storage systems in procurement, renewable-energy auctions and support schemes, as well as investment conditions

The goal is to support European industrial competitiveness by making Made-in-EU and low-carbon products more attractive in public procurement.

For DPP purposes, this should be read as a reason to prepare relevant data, not as a new passport obligation.

What This Is Not

The Industrial Accelerator Act is not a Digital Product Passport regulation. It does not create new DPP obligations, data fields, identifier requirements or passport deadlines.

It is a separate legislative proposal that exists alongside the ESPR and the Battery Regulation, not inside them.

Its relevance to DPP is indirect: it can reward some of the same origin, emissions and traceability capabilities that future DPP workflows may also use.

Why It Matters for DPP Readiness

Even though the Industrial Accelerator Act is not a DPP act, it creates practical consequences that overlap with DPP preparation:

1. Origin certification becomes more valuable

Procurement preferences for Made-in-EU products mean that companies will need to prove where their products were manufactured. That requires structured origin data, the same kind of data that a future DPP would also need.

2. Low-carbon claims need supporting data

Procurement preferences for low-carbon products require verifiable emissions data. For batteries, this connects directly to the carbon-footprint requirements under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. For steel and aluminium, it aligns with the data that CBAM reporting already demands.

3. Traceability expectations grow across the metals value chain

The proposal adds another policy signal around origin, emissions and traceability for industrial materials. Companies that already invest in structured product data, supplier evidence and batch-level traceability will be better prepared, whether the next step is a DPP delegated act, a procurement framework or both.

What This Means Per Sector

Batteries

Battery manufacturers already face the most concrete DPP timeline. The battery passport under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies from 18 February 2027 for covered categories. The Industrial Accelerator Act adds another reason to have clean origin and emissions data ready, not just for the passport, but also for public procurement channels.

For more on the battery passport timeline, see: Battery DPP Deadline: What to Do Before February 2027

Steel and aluminium

Steel and aluminium importers already manage a dual compliance track: CBAM requires emissions reporting, while ESPR positions these materials as a priority group for future DPP obligations. The Industrial Accelerator Act adds another policy signal around traceable, low-carbon and EU-produced materials.

For more on CBAM and DPP for metals, see: CBAM and DPP for Steel and Aluminium

Cement

Cement is covered by the proposal, but its product rules must also be read alongside the Construction Products Regulation. ESPR Article 18(6) provides a fallback for cement ecodesign requirements between 31 December 2028 and 1 January 2030 if adequate environmental and carbon-footprint requirements are absent under construction-product law. This is not a fixed cement DPP application date.

What Has Not Changed

It is important to be clear about what the Industrial Accelerator Act does not do:

• It does not create a new DPP obligation for any sector
• It does not change the battery passport deadline of 18 February 2027
• It does not adopt or finalise any ESPR delegated act
• It is a proposal, not yet adopted law; it still needs to go through the legislative process

What to Watch Next

• Whether the proposal progresses through the European Parliament and Council
• How procurement rules interact with sector-specific DPP obligations once delegated acts are adopted
• Whether the origin and traceability expectations in the proposal influence the scope of future ESPR data requirements
• How the Commission’s own procurement guidance treats the DPP: its 31 August 2026 guidance on Article 25 of the Net-Zero Industry Act says contracting authorities should progressively rely on digital traceability systems, which could in the future also include Digital Product Passports. Analysis: DPP Beyond ESPR: Forced Labour Guidelines and Public Procurement

Read Next

• DPP Beyond ESPR: Forced Labour Guidelines and Public Procurement
• Battery DPP Deadline: What to Do Before February 2027
• CBAM and DPP for Steel and Aluminium
• Digital Product Passport for Iron, Steel and Aluminium
• Digital Product Passport for Batteries

Official Sources

• Communication from the Commission: Guidance on the application of Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 (OJ C/2026/4623, 31 August 2026)
• Industrial Accelerator Act — European Commission publication page, 4 March 2026 COM(2026) 100. ESPR, Art. 18(6).

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