The Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU has invited the EU Ministers for Industry and the Internal market on Friday, 15 May, to exchange views on industrial policy and ways of guaranteeing the strategic autonomy of the European Union in the future, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 health crisis.
In a document distributed to Member States ahead of the meeting, the Presidency notes that the crisis has shown that European industry is “highly dependent” on non-Member State suppliers “and thus vulnerable”, explicitly citing essential health sector goods. According to the Presidency, “efforts must be made to reduce this dependence on key materials and technologies”.
The Presidency thus expects ministers to give their views on how to strengthen the European Union’s industrial and strategic autonomy and on the measures to be taken in the short and medium term. It will therefore explore whether the “March package” presented by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12444/5), i.e. the new industrial and SME strategy and the plan to strengthen the Internal market, is sufficient to ensure a successful economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic.
The ministers will be awaited by the Presidency to share their thoughts on the issue of strategic ecosystems, desired by the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, particularly with a view to guaranteeing the best transition towards a competitive green and digital economy.
Although absent from the Presidency's document, the question of the relocation of certain strategic sectors could be addressed because of the many vulnerabilities of the European economy revealed by the Covid-19 crisis, such as the stock shortage of masks, of protective equipment, and even of fundamental active principles for the pharmaceutical sector, showing a strong European dependence on China and India. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)