The European Commission announced to the national delegations to the EU on Monday 20 September in the EU Council’s ‘Competitiveness and Growth’ working group that it would postpone the presentation of the Single Market Emergency Instrument until the last quarter of 2022.
The European Commission, through its President, announced the presentation of this new instrument in the framework of the update of the industrial strategy last May (see EUROPE 12713/6) in order to respond to crisis situations and the pandemic. Initially, the text was to be presented in the first quarter of 2022, but the Commission, wishing first to carry out an impact study, preferred to postpone the proposal.
Some indications on the content of the draft were given during the meeting of the group: it would be a regulation that should cover several types of crises, in addition to pandemic cases, such as earthquakes or volcanic activities, which could have a lasting negative impact on the functioning of the single market. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)