Daniel Calleja warns that the European model "runs the risk of not being viable for the future."

As of August 27, 2026, the so-called future EU Industrial Acceleration Act (Industrial Accelerator Act, IAA), proposed by the European Commission, has not yet been approved: it is currently in the ordinary legislative procedure of the European Union, in an intermediate phase of negotiation between the European Parliament and the Council, with the regulation still being drafted and not published in the Official Journal of the EU.

1. What exactly is the “Industrial Acceleration Act”

The Industrial Acceleration Act is a regulation proposal from the European Commission presented in March 2026. Its objectives, according to various analyses collected by Demócrata, are:

• To strengthen the European industrial base and halt deindustrialization.
• To accelerate the decarbonization of key industrial sectors.
• To consolidate the “Made in Europe” label in strategic value chains.
• To introduce European preference in certain public procurement procedures and condition part of foreign investment.
• To create industrial acceleration zones or areas with simplified permit processing and one-stop administrative shops.

Therefore, it is a complementary package to the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), but not the same: the NZIA is already an approved and in-force Regulation, while the Industrial Acceleration Act is still under processing.

2. Status of the European legislative procedure

According to information gathered by Demócrata and other sources cited in its analyses:

• The Commission presented the draft regulation in early March 2026. Legislative tracking articles indicate that, as a regulation proposal, the IAA “must now follow the ordinary legislative procedure in the European Parliament and the Council, where it will be debated and amended over the coming months.”
• In spring 2026, the initiative moves to the co-legislators circuit: committees of the European Parliament and working groups of the Council begin working on their own positions.
• By late spring 2026, union and business sources cited by Demócrata place the IAA in the trilogue phase, that is, in the stage of informal negotiations between Parliament, Council, and Commission, still without a final closure: in this phase, the scope of European preference in public contracts, the definition of affected sectors, and the design of industrial acceleration zones are refined.
• The new Council presidency (Ireland) includes the Industrial Accelerator Act among the priority legislative dossiers it wants to close, confirming that by mid-2026 the text is still under processing and not yet adopted.

None of the consulted sources indicate that the following have already occurred:

• Final vote in the European Parliament Plenary and adoption of the first-reading position on a closed text.
• Definitive adoption in the Council.
• Publication of the Regulation in the OJ EU or entry into force.

In practical terms, this means that the Industrial Acceleration Act is currently at an advanced stage of political negotiation (proposal presented, positions being developed, and trilogues underway), but the ordinary legislative procedure has not yet been completed.

3. Scope and effects on Spain and its Parliament

The IAA is conceived as an EU Regulation. This implies that, once approved:

• It will be directly applicable in Member States, without the need for a classic national transposition law.
• It will likely require internal implementing rules (state and regional) to:
  • Designate competent authorities and single contact points.
  • Regulate in detail the permit procedures in industrial acceleration areas.
  • Adjust aspects of public procurement, state aid, or energy-industrial planning.

At the strictly Spanish level, to date:

• The Industrial Acceleration Act is subject to political, social, and sectoral debate (unions, employers’ associations, regional governments, etc.), which assess its impact on reindustrialization, permits, and European preference.
• In the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, the IAA is mentioned in hearings and debates on industrial policy and strategic autonomy, but not yet as a specific national law under processing under that name.

4. Conclusion

In summary: the future EU Industrial Acceleration Act is currently a regulation proposal in negotiation between the European Parliament and the Council, included among the major industrial dossiers the EU wants to close before the end of the legislature. It has not yet been approved or published, and in Spain its path is, for now, one of debate and preparation for future regulatory adaptation, rather than processing a specific Spanish law.

According to official information from the European Commission itself, the powers of the director of the Commission Office in Spain (head of the Representation in Madrid) derive from the general mission of the Representations in the Member States and the role assigned to their heads. They are not articulated in a single article of the Treaties, but in internal decisions and instructions of the Commission, complemented by official public descriptions in press releases and on the Representation's website.

The official note on the appointment of Daniel Calleja as director of the Representation in Spain states that, in his functions, "he will act as the official representative of the European Commission in Spain, under the political authority of President Ursula von der Leyen," and that he will be "the Commission's next voice in Spain, promoting EU policies and fostering dialogue with national authorities, the media, and civil society" (Representation in Spain note). Other appointment notes for heads of Representation in different Member States reproduce exactly the same functional scheme.

Main powers established by the Commission's internal regulations

Based on these official sources, which reflect the content of the Commission's internal decisions on its Representations, the functions of the director of the Office in Spain can be summarized as follows:

• Political representation of the Commission in Spain. The head of the Representation "acts as the official representative of the European Commission" in the Member State and does so "under the political authority" of the Commission President (appointment note in Madrid and similar notes for other countries). Practically speaking, he is the political face of the institution in the country.
• Functions as the Commission's “eyes, ears, and voice” in the Member State. The Representations "are the eyes, ears, and voice of the Commission on the ground in the Member States," and this phrase is repeated in multiple official communications (Brussels, Vienna, Nicosia…). The director leads this exercise of political representation and “listening” to the national context to inform Brussels.
• Interlocution with national authorities and other public powers. The Representations "interact with national authorities," so the director heads political and administrative relations with the central government, parliament, and, in practice, with other territorial levels when necessary. This interlocution serves both to explain the Commission's positions and to convey national concerns to Brussels.
• Relations with stakeholders and civil society. Similarly, official notes indicate that the Representations "interact with [...] stakeholders and citizens" (Madrid, Helsinki, among others). The director coordinates this agenda of contacts with companies, unions, NGOs, universities, and other public space actors.
• Public and media communication about EU policies. The Representations "inform the media and the public about EU policies"; therefore, the director exercises political leadership of communication: setting priorities, supervising messages, and acting as the Commission's spokesperson in Spain when so decided.
• Promotion of the Commission's political priorities. Appointment press releases emphasize that the head of Representation has "the task of promoting the Commission's priorities" in the Member State (Paris, The Hague). Legally, this connects with Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union, which assigns the Commission legislative initiative and the function of ensuring the application of Union law; the director contributes to this mission by explaining and supporting policy implementation in Spain.
• Direction and management of the Representation. Although public notes focus on the political dimension, they also describe heads of Representation as responsible for a "management function in a Commission Representation" (Vienna). This implies leading the office team, coordinating communication and political analysis units, managing resources, and ensuring the coherence of the Representation's actions with the instructions of the Commission's Directorate-General for Communication.

Legal basis and nature of the functions

From a strictly normative point of view, the director's functions are not detailed in the Treaties nor in a legislative regulation adopted by Parliament and Council, but are established by internal decisions of the Commission itself regarding the structure of its services and the organization of its Representations in the Member States. Official appointment press releases and the institutional description of the Representations make public the essential elements of this mandate and allow reconstructing, in legal and functional terms, the content of the position.

In summary, the director of the European Commission Office in Spain is the political representative of the institution in the country, leads an administrative unit of the Commission, and exercises, under the authority of the Presidency, functions of political interlocution, public communication, liaison with society, and feedback to Brussels, within the general framework of the powers that EU law assigns to the Commission as the executive body and guardian of the Treaties.

The so-called Regime 28 is an initiative still under processing at the EU level that is structured around a new European corporate form, EU Inc. (and, in the Parliament's version, the Societas Europaea Unificata – S.EU). It does not replace national law but offers an optional and harmonized framework to operate throughout the internal market with a single set of rules. Based on the Commission's proposal and the drafts debated in the European Parliament, the basic legal requirements to incorporate under this regime would be as follows.

1. Who can opt for Regime 28

• Broad subjective scope: anyone wishing to create a new company in the EU could choose the EU Inc. form, with a special focus on startups, innovative SMEs, and scaleups.
• Voluntary option: the regime is optional. The entrepreneur can choose between:
  • Incorporating a traditional national company (Ltd., PLC, etc.), or
  • Incorporating a EU Inc./S.EU under Regime 28.
  National forms continue to exist and are not automatically modified.
• Freedom of establishment: the founder can freely choose the Member State of registration, regardless of where the activity is carried out, always respecting any anti-abuse safeguards that co-legislators may set.

2. Incorporation requirements

• 100% digital procedure: incorporation must be done entirely online, without physical appearances or paper paperwork.
• Maximum registration period: if standard models and statutes are used, registration would be completed within a maximum of 48 hours, according to the Commission's roadmap and Parliament's recommendations.
• Limited cost: drafts handled by the Commission set a maximum fee cap around 100 euros for the incorporation process.
• Minimum capital:
  • In the Commission's proposal for EU Inc., no mandatory minimum capital is required: it could even be zero euros throughout the company's life, provided solvency and balance tests are respected.
  • The Parliament, when shaping the S.EU, has suggested a symbolic capital of 1 euro paid as an entry threshold.
• Centralized registration: registration is done through a single EU interface connected with national commercial registers. The company only needs to provide its information once, which is then shared with:
  • Tax authorities (for VAT and tax identification number),
  • Social Security,
  • Register of beneficial ownership, etc.
• Language documentation: statutes and essential documents must be at least in the official language of the Member State of registration and in English, to facilitate cross-border investment.
• Company name: companies under the regime must add a common identifying label (for example, “EU Inc.”) to their name, so that investors, authorities, and counterparts know they are governed by this homogeneous framework.

3. Governance and third-party protection requirements

• Corporate bodies: at least one of the company's directors must be resident in the EU, ensuring an effective anchor in the internal market.
• Solvency and distributions: in the absence of minimum capital, creditor protection relies on:
  • Solvency and balance tests prior to any dividend distribution or asset reduction.
  • Enhanced liability of directors if they distribute profits without complying with these tests.
• Employee protection: the EU Inc. proposal does not alter the labor, tax, or consumer protection laws of Member States:
  • Salaries, working time, risk prevention, equality, and dismissal remain according to the law of the place where the work is performed.
  • The Regime 28 cannot be used to circumvent workers' participation rights on boards when national law recognizes them.
• Minority shareholders: instruments are foreseen such as:
  • Right of forced sale of their shares to the company in case of serious harm,
  • Flexibility to create classes of shares with different economic and voting rights, including protection against “predatory acquisitions.”
• Simplified insolvency procedures: for new innovative companies, the following are designed:
  • Channels for early restructuring and “second chance,”
  • Fast liquidations (e.g., closing companies without assets or debts in a few months),
  • Mandatory use of digital communication and auctions to speed up the procedure.
• Specialized justice: the Commission encourages Member States to designate specialized courts for EU Inc./S.EU, to ensure coherent and predictable decisions.

In short, to incorporate under Regime 28, the company must meet a set of requirements focused on fast digital incorporation, uniform European corporate statute, protection of workers, creditors, and minorities, and full subjection to the substantive law of the Member State where the registered office and activity are located. As it is still a proposal under negotiation, some parameters (symbolic minimum capital, exact scope, anti-abuse safeguards) may be adjusted in the final legislative process.