On Friday 22 March, European Heads of State or Government will try to demonstrate that the uncertainties linked to Brexit will not prevent them from launching various economic projects that should enable the European Union to continue to have an economic impact on the international scene (see other news).
A deepening of the internal market – by adapting it specifically to the major technological changes underway (access to data, network security, artificial intelligence) – is one of the clearly identified areas of work. Particular emphasis should be placed on the generalisation of digital services, the strengthening of capital markets, and the energy market.
Under Finland's leadership, seventeen Member States have set out their priorities in respect of this area (see EUROPE 12203/13).
According to draft conclusions dated Monday 18 March, the European Council is to invite the European Commission to present, by March 2020, a long-term vision for the EU's industrial future that will allow the sectors in question to remain competitive, while also taking into account sustainability issues. It could possibly be based on the joint position defined by eighteen countries (see EUROPE 12162/8).
The development of an "assertive" industrial strategy, as advocated by Germany and France, should include a review of the birth and development of European champions, especially given the Commission's rejection of a merger between Germany's Siemens and France's Alstom companies.
According to a senior European official, however, Paris and Berlin did not make many friends with their "radical" proposals, such as the one that questioned the exclusive power of the Commission in assessing mergers (see EUROPE 12197/5).
Fair competition. The Twenty-Eight will underline the importance of ensuring 'fair' competition within the single market.
However, to date, this competition is "biased" by abuses of the shareholding of large companies and foreign investments that are subsidised by state loans that distort the situation, a national diplomat noted on Wednesday, 20 March.
By the end of 2019, the European Commission intends to identify before the end of the year how to fill the existing gaps in EU law “in order to fully address the distortive effects of foreign state ownership and state aid financing in the single market”.
Defending an "ambitious" trade agenda that promotes EU values and standards, and which is based on reformed multilateral rules, the European Council intends to cut short any notion of trade naivety between the EU and its partners. A few days before an EU/China summit where European delegates intend to propose a full partnership with Beijing, the Chinese example is not explicitly mentioned in the draft conclusions, but it at the forefront of everyone's mind.
According to the Twenty-Eight, the EU will have to use the instruments available to protect itself from unfair competition within the single market from non-Member states. Implicit in this are trade defence and foreign investment screening instruments in the European Union.
Reciprocity. The European Council will also invite the resumption of negotiations on the revised draft regulation intended to stimulate the opening of public procurement in non-Member states.
France argues that it has made Germany change its mind over the text, which has been blocked in the Council of the EU since 2016 (see EUROPE 11479/12). The idea is to convince third countries to open up their public contracts to European companies to a greater extent, otherwise it would be more difficult for companies from these non-Member states to win public contracts in the EU as a result of the imposition of additional financial costs.
According to a third European diplomat, "the EU does not want to respond to protectionism with protectionism", but a growing number of Member States are realising that companies from all over the world are taking part in our public procurement, whereas elsewhere, as in China, it is far more complicated.
The draft conclusions can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2FrcMn9. (Mathieu Bion and editorial staff)