The ‘Competitiveness’ Council of the EU, meeting on Thursday 24 February, was cut short due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and an extraordinary European Council meeting that evening (see EUROPE 12898/1). However, although the meeting was disrupted, this new crisis at the EU’s borders reinforces the EU’s strategic autonomy and all the actions undertaken by the European Commission, said the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton and the French Industry Minister, Agnès Pannier-Runnacher.
“Our meeting, which is a continuation of the efforts undertaken over the last few months to strengthen our strategic autonomy, has taken on a special significance today”, said Ms Pannier-Runacher.
Mr Breton also stressed the “geopolitical” dimension of this EU Council. “Everything we have discussed today must be seen in the context of geopolitics, including the events we are experiencing”. For the Commissioner, the crisis throws a “special political light” on the European Commission’s action.
Most of the items on the agenda of the ministerial meeting were related to the issue of EU autonomy, including the supply of critical raw materials (see EUROPE 12896/15).
In the morning of the informal meeting of 31 January and 1 February (see EUROPE 12881/2), the Commission presented the report on the state of the Single Market (see EUROPE 12897/10) and the report on dependencies in critical materials and metals. This analysis was welcomed by the Member States.
Asked about the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on European supply chains, Mr Breton confirmed that he had activated specific ‘monitoring’ and that his departments were mobilised with “the greatest of attention and acuity”. This issue is expected to be discussed again at the extraordinary European summit on 10-11 March in Versailles and at the European Council on 24-25 March.
Responding to EUROPE, the French minister said that her counterparts had welcomed the progress made in the SMET working group on enforcement of Single Market rules.
“This is a concrete way to address unjustified barriers”, explained Ms Pannier-Runacher. “Very clearly, this process must continue with concrete results in terms of information sharing, information given to companies and on the issue of posted workers”, she said.
Discussion on semiconductors postponed
The discussion on the legislative proposal on semiconductors (‘European Chips Act’) (see EUROPE 12896/15) has been postponed to the ‘Competitiveness’ Council of the EU on 9 June. “But, in any case, we will not stand idly by until the 9th”, Ms Pannier-Runacher assured EUROPE, wishing to “make as much progress as possible on this text”.
“One thing I can see is that for both critical raw materials and semiconductors [...], this is a point that keeps coming up”, the minister said. She mentioned discussions on SMEs and mid-sized companies “which have more difficulty in accessing semiconductors and critical raw materials”, or the one on the ‘mobility’ ecosystem or on foreign subsidies.
“This is a subject that is very much on our minds, and I don’t think that the events of the last few hours will (make us) let our guard down on this critical supply issue”, she concluded.
Agreement under French Presidency of EU Council on common charger?
On the common charger directive, the French Minister welcomed the political agreement reached at the level of the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper I) (see EUROPE 12877/8).
“The ball is in the court of the European Parliament”, she said. According to her, if the Parliament finds an agreement quickly, the French Presidency of the EU Council has “reasonable” confidence that it will be able to reach a rapid conclusion in the interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues). It is “simple in its conception”, according to Ms Pannier-Runacher.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection is expected to vote on its report on 20 April.
Foreign subsidies
In addition, the ministers stressed the importance of having an instrument to combat unfair foreign subsidies. The proposed regulation, presented by the Commission in May 2021 (see EUROPE 12713/1), will be voted on in the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade in April.
Mr Breton called for a “targeted, effective and fair” instrument.
In a compromise text presented to the EU Council in January, the French Presidency of the EU Council (FPEU) insisted on the need to take into account the administrative burden on businesses and the Commission (see EUROPE 12878/5). France, on the other hand, proposed to add the possibility for a company to demonstrate that a foreign subsidy covered by the regulation does not, in a particular case, lead to unfair competition.
Ms Pannier-Runacher recalled that the FPEU wanted an EU Council negotiating position on this text to be agreed on by the end of June. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens and Léa Marchal)