Nine Member States have co-signed a letter to the cabinet of the President of the European Commission, seen by EUROPE on Thursday 9 June, expressing concern about recent developments in the plan to create a Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI).
The signatories of this letter (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden), first reported by the Bloomberg newspaper on Wednesday 8 June, fear that the proposal is” less about facilitating a well- functioning Single Market and more about steering industries in a non-crisis environment, to prepare for future unknown crises”.
In particular, they draw on the content of the recent call for evidence, which includes, inter alia, policy options such as stockpiling, monitoring and strengthening the resilience of strategic supply chains, mandatory information requests to economic operators, and prioritisation orders that seem to go far beyond the original purpose of the instrument, without a clear definition of the problem or proven added value.
According to the signatories, such policy options take the project “into uncharted waters” without solid preparation and support behind them. “In order to ensure this, we call upon the European Commission to stick close to its original plan of adopting an instrument that ensures the free movement of goods, services and people, with greater transparency, coordination, and fast-track decisions, based on clear definition of crises related to free movement within the European Union”, it reads.
The instrument, which has been detailed several times by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12936/3), is expected to be presented during the summer, according to the latest agenda of the European College of Commissioners, or even in September, according to recent statements by the European institution (see EUROPE 12955/10). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)