The European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, indicated on Thursday 27 May at the end of the Competitiveness Council that the European Commission does not intend, for the time being, to make public the list of products for which the European Union is very dependent on third countries.
In the context of the update of the industrial strategy, the European Commission has presented a detailed analysis of the EU’s strategic dependencies on third countries, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12713/6, 12711/13).
Out of 5,000 products analysed, 137 sensitive products were identified, of which 34 were recognised as extremely sensitive. However, this list has not been published for reasons of economic security.
Asked by EUROPE whether the list of these products should be made public, Mr Breton said that “at this stage” it was not necessary, as doing so would “weaken” the EU. “We know it, and we are working on it”, he added. However, the Commissioner indicated that the list of envisaged alliances and important projects of common European interest (CEIP) could give strong clues as to the nature of these critical components. He cited alliance projects in the fields of hydrogen, cloud computing and semiconductors.
Role of the Competitiveness Council
Responding to EUROPE on a possible strengthening of the role of the Competitiveness Council among the EU Council’s sectoral formations, the Commissioner indicated “an increase in the power of the Competitiveness Council”, which should play a “central” role in “guiding the exit from the crisis”.
Mr Breton also stated that at each future Competitiveness Council meeting, the competent ministers will examine an ecosystem in relation to the ‘transition pathways’ developed within the strategy’s framework.
On Thursday, the focus was on tourism. It would not be “impossible” for energy-intensive industries to be addressed at the next ministerial meeting under the Slovenian EU Council Presidency.
Internal market, SMEs and the battle for standards
For the Portuguese Minister for the Economy and the Digital Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, the discussions with the ministers once again demonstrated the importance of the internal market for the EU, but also its fragility, which has been highlighted by the pandemic. In this respect, he pointed out that many Member States had raised the issue of raw material supply.
Furthermore, Thierry Breton pointed out the situation of SMEs and the many difficulties - liquidity problems, insolvency - they are facing with the crisis.
He also addressed the issue of standards, regretting that the EU had become a “standards taker” and not a “standards maker”. He hoped that the EU would be more active in international standardisation institutions.
Judgment of the Hague district court
Finally, the Commissioner did not wish to comment on the possible impact of the judgment of the Hague district court, which the day before had asked the Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell to drastically reduce its CO2 emissions by 2030. In his view, the path mapped out by the industrial strategy is the right one, both in terms of decarbonisation and the transition. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)