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The Commission is considering new regulations to ensure supplies in times of crisis

The European Union is considering a wide range of new powers, including export controls, to protect European supply chains in times of crisis, according to Bloomberg.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU will present its proposals by spring, Bloomberg reports citing a European official with knowledge of the plan.

The new rules will be part of the Single Market Emergency Tool, a proposal designed to address some of the challenges the EU has faced. during the pandemic crisis, when many countries were finding it difficult to obtain vaccines and protective equipment.

The commission will propose new measures to determine the level of needs, anticipate and respond to disruptions affecting the single market, such as interruptions in the supply chains that power the industry, the unnamed official said.

The Commission’s representative, Johannes Bahrke, declined to comment on the Commission’s plans. The pandemic “showed that some of the existing rules and some of the tools we have at our disposal for the single market are not sufficiently adapted to crises and emergencies,” he said, adding that the new proposal would help ensure greater transparency and coordination when a crisis breaks out “.

Single Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, in a letter to staff on 22 December, said: “We need structural solutions to the next crisis, whatever it may be, which could spark huge supply or demand shocks. , affecting industries and fragmenting the single market “.

One of the ideas being considered is for the Commission to monitor deliveries to third countries in times of turmoil, as was the case with the vaccine export control system. As part of this program, which will expire at the end of the month, companies must first be approved nationally and at European level to send vaccines against Covid-19 outside the EU.

The proposal will also allow the EU request information from companies about their capacity, stocks and adjustment times and in some cases will facilitate the joint supply of critical goods, according to the European official.

The rules may provide for a greater role for the Commission in assessing national restrictions on the flow of goods into the single market in order to avoid unilateral measures by Member States, as was the case during the pandemic.

European leaders are expected to hold a first debate on the initiative at the Paris Summit on March 10 and 11, with a formal proposal to follow later, the official said.

The new tool, announced earlier this year by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will also include measures to tackle EU dependence. from third parties in areas of strategic importance, diversifying sources of supply and enhancing EU industrial production

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Source From: Capital

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