FRANKFURT, GERMANY – June 2, 2026 – From May 27 to 29, 2026, the historic Steigenberger Icon Frankfurter Hof in Frankfurt am Main became the epicenter of the European pump manufacturing and compressed air industries. The joint EUROPUMP / PNEUROP Annual Meeting 2026, hosted by the German Mechanical Engineering Association VDMA, brought together almost 130 leading executives, technical experts, and industry stakeholders from all across Europe as well as guests from the United States, Brazil and India.
Against a backdrop of shifting international trade policies and economic headwinds, this year’s annual conference served as a vital platform for cross-border collaboration. The event featured technical sessions, parallel expert workshops, and strategic committee meetings addressing standardization, regulatory updates, and market trends.
Navigating a Complex Geopolitical Landscape A core focus of the joint assembly was a series of high-level keynote presentations addressing the critical management challenges facing mechanical engineering today. Top industry minds tackled pressing questions concerning global market dynamics, including:
- Trade Barriers & Tariffs: Assessing the impact of US tariffs on European mechanical engineering products and defining strategic responses for European pump and compressor manufacturers.
- Ensuring Fair Competition: Analyzing the rise of Chinese market competitors and discussing structural mechanisms—such as securing resilient, independent critical raw material supply chains—to guarantee a level playing field within the European market.
- Global Competitiveness: Reviewing the broader, macroeconomic competitiveness of European manufacturers on the global stage, supported by the latest sector insights from the Oxford Economics Pump Market Report.
“The pump industry world is facing unprecedented structural shifts,” said Alexandre Lacour, President of Europump. “Bringing together a majority of pump manufacturers as well as partner organisations and important supply chain players allows us to build our ecosystem in order to foster innovation and unified strategies against geopolitical volatility. True competitiveness relies on fair markets and robust supply chains.”
Collaboration and Networking Beyond technical harmonization—which included crucial joint working groups tackling PFAS restrictions and trade regulations—the event featured an exceptional social program that fostered international networking. Attendees and their partners enjoyed a welcome evening on the Ehrenhof Terrace looking out at the Frankfurt skyline, followed by a traditional gala dinner hosted among the historic exhibits of the Senckenberg Natural History Museum.
The event was made possible through the generous support of key industry sponsors, namely **Innomotics **(Gold Sponsor), WEG (Silver sponsors) and ifm (Bronze sponsor). Both WEG and Innomotics showcased innovative pathways toward sustainable, energy-efficient pump and compressor systems.
For more details on the event proceedings or future initiatives, please visit the official event portal at www.vdma-services.eu/europump-pneurop/.
About EUROPUMP Europump is the European Association of Pump Manufacturers, representing 16 national associations across Europe. Its members include more than 450 companies, handling a collective production value of more than €10 billion.
About PNEUROP Pneurop is the European Association of Manufacturers of Compressors, Vacuum Pumps, Pneumatic Tools and Allied Equipment, representing national associations in major European countries.
About VDMA Services VDMA Services GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the VDMA (German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), providing premium event management, publishing, and exhibition services to the engineering sector.
Media Contact: Lisa Kretschmann, Secretary General of Europump, Email: secgen@europump.org