2026 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting: Business Calls for Industrial Policies to Re-inforce, Not Replace, Market Fundamentals

This week, Business at OECD participated in the OECD’s 2026 Ministerial Council Meeting as the institutional private sector voice. As more than 70 Ministers gathered in Paris under the theme “Getting Industrial Policies Right for Open Markets, Growth, and Prosperity,” we stressed the need for industrial policy to build on strong market fundamentals to sustain economic competitiveness and growth. Discussions focused on the economic outlook — in the context of the on-going energy crisis — as well as the role of industrial policies, trade, investment, and digital transformation. The 2026 OECD Ministerial was chaired by Finland, with Korea and New Zealand serving as Vice-Chairs.

Our Chair Rick Johnston led our Business at OECD delegation in exchanges with Ministers, joined by our Executive Board Members and representatives of our national business federations. Building on our 2026 Statement to Ministers, we emphasised that long-term growth and competitiveness depend all on strong pro-business conditions — open markets, competition, sound regulation, and stable frameworks. Industrial policy can support, but must remain targeted and coordinated. At the same time, we underlined that businesses remain under pressure with growing policy complexity, labour shortages, and the current energy shock shaping costs and competitiveness. We called on Ministers to ensure a level playing field, advance a simplification agenda, and ensure economic security policies remain targeted and compatible with open markets.

In the margins of the Ministerial, Business at OECD hosted — for the first time — three back-to-back side events, engaging policymakers and stakeholders on key priorities for business. These included a session on “Building Confidence in Global Markets”, organised in cooperation with the OECD Investment Committee and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland; a discussion on “Securing Innovation Leadership in Life Sciences” organised in cooperation with the G7 France Presidency; and a presentation of the results of our Business at OECD Economic Policy Survey, with a focus on industrial policy. Together, these sessions provided a platform for Members to engage and bring additional business perspectives directly into the Ministerial discussions.

After two days of discussions, the OECD Ministerial concluded with a Chair’s Statement recognising the growing role of industrial policies, while stressing that such measures should be transparent, targeted, and minimise market distortions. In this context, flagship deliverables of the OECD also included:

• OECD Economic Outlook: The OECD revised down its global growth projections and revised up its inflation forecasts, warning that energy and supply-chain disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict are weighing on the global economy.
• OECD Smart Regulations, Strong Business: The OECD warned that growing regulatory complexity is weighing on business dynamism and competitiveness, calling for a renewed focus on simplification, better rulemaking and reducing unnecessary compliance burdens.
• OECD MAGIC Database of Industrial Subsidies: The OECD launched the first public version of its MAGIC database, underlining that industrial subsidies have reached their highest level since the global financial crisis, and are highest for non-OECD competitors.
• OECD Recommendation on Quantum Technologies: Ministers adopted the first international policy guidance for governance of quantum technologies, setting shared principles for trusted innovation, security and resilience, and responsible collaboration. 

We look forward to engaging with our business network in the year ahead, and driving the private sector’s active engagement in the process leading up to the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in 2027.