The Commission wants to learn the lessons of Covid and the energy crisis by intervening in the single market.
Brussels
The European Commission is embarking on a difficult balancing act between vigilance and protectionism. It is due to present its new “single market instrument” next Monday, drawing lessons from the difficulties encountered at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic or since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Marked by the improvisation that has dominated its work since 2020, the Commission’s proposal must establish a framework allowing the monitoring of the supply chains of strategic sectors and intervention in the markets, whatever the urgency. In practice, it is a question of perpetuating certain procedures put in place during the pandemic, such as the group purchase of vaccines.
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Brussels is inspired by the strategic reserve systems developed in Japan and South Korea, and the American Defense Production Act. With a certain nuance, insists the single market commissioner. Thierry Breton points to the emphasis placed on “dialogue with industry» and the will…