Automation bodies join forces to promote robotics worldwide
15 July 2026 
Image: Staubli
Four organisations representing the global automation and robotics sector are calling on governments worldwide to promote robotics and automation as a strategic priority for economic, industrial and social development. The organisations – the US-based Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the German trade body, VDMA Robotics + Automation, and the Spanish Association of Robotics and Automation (AER Automation) – have signed an agreement called the Barcelona Declaration on Robotics and Automation, making a long-term commitment to promote public policies that accelerate automation, industrial competitiveness and talent development.
The organisations – which, together, represent more than 3,000 companies and groups involved in robotics and automation – have committed to work with governments, industry and public institutions to advance policies that foster the development and adoption of robotics and automation.
“This declaration represents an international commitment to work hand-in-hand with governments in building a policy framework that enables robotics to reach its full potential as a driver of competitiveness, sustainability and social well-being,” says AER Automation president, Carlos Méndez.
The signatories have agreed to maintain a permanent dialogue with governments and public institutions, provide technical expertise and industry data to policymakers, publish regular progress reports on the implementation of the declaration’s priorities, and open the initiative to additional robotics and automation associations worldwide.
The declaration sets out 10 priorities for policymakers, regardless of their country’s industrial structure or level of automation. It calls on them to:
- Adopt national robotics strategies
- Improve investment conditions through tax policies
- Use robots – not just regulate them
- Bring robotics into schools
- Communicate the real impact of robotics and automation on jobs
- Invest in assistive and care robots
- Make robotics accessible to everyone
- Regulate intelligently, and keep up with the technologies, avoiding unnecessary costs
- Back international standards, not regional ones
- Close the gap between innovation and scale
The signatories are hoping that the Barcelona declaration will establish itself as an international reference framework for shaping public policies on robotics and automation in the years ahead.
AER: LinkedIn
