An update to the industrial strategy will be postponed until Wednesday 5 May due to final arbitrations to be made under the framework of the inter-service consultation, as well as due to ongoing tensions between some Commissioners' and Vice-Presidents' cabinets, according to information obtained on Monday 26 April.
This is the second time the update has been postponed, since it was originally scheduled for 17 March and was postponed until 27 April (see EUROPE 12664/28). The decision was reportedly taken on Thursday 22 April at the weekly meeting of the Directorates-General. The reason for this is that there has been no finalisation of the inter-service consultation of six Directorates-General on specific measures to be taken – in light of the pandemic – based on an analysis of the first year of the implemented strategy.
Furthermore, tensions between Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for the Green Deal, and Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, are said to be at the root of this postponement.
The points to be discussed would be the extent of administrative burdens for economic operators, especially in relation to the Green Deal, but also regarding the issue of strengthening strategic autonomy. Thierry Breton, who rather represents the French line, is in favour of reinforcing strategic autonomy, thereby opposing the views of Mrs Vestager and Mr Dombrovskis, who assume the Nordic line of reasoning, based on free trade and the maintenance of an open European economy. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)