The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU intends to be fully in line with the French [Presidency’s] actions to strengthen European autonomy in the area of raw materials as well as parts and products described as “strategic”, according to the programme for the next six months, which was consulted on Friday, 8 July. It will emphasise deepening the internal market.
Thus, the Czech Republic will focus on strengthening “open strategic autonomy” while ensuring that the competitiveness of the European economy increases. Including a reminder in its programme that the Czech Republic is one of the most industrialised EU Member States, it will devote special attention to the resilience of industry and its supply chains.
In this context, its main objective will be to find a political agreement in the EU Council on the legislative initiative on semiconductors. According to information obtained during the month of June, the political agreement is expected to come up during December’s Competitiveness Council, as we reported at the beginning of June (see EUROPE 12968/7).
As for the internal market, the Czech Presidency affirms that it wants to tackle improving the implementation of EU internal market rules, especially in the area of service provision. This matter will be addressed in collaboration with SMET, the task force responsible for enforcing internal market legislation (see EUROPE 12718/32).
As we reported, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU will also tackle negotiations on the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI). The instrument is expected to be announced during the European Commission president’s State of the Union address before the European Parliament in Strasbourg in September (see EUROPE 12981/17).
Likewise, the Czech Presidency will seek to make progress on all of the proposals on technical harmonisation not only concerning construction products but also, in the field of motor vehicles and non-road mobile machinery, machinery and even the revision of the Standardisation Regulation (see EUROPE 12973/16).
It will also push the discussion on modernising the system of industrial design protection in the EU "as far as possible" by insisting on establishing protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products. Here, the Czech Presidency also has the ambition of achieving a general approach (see EUROPE 12932/1).
BusinessEurope calls for wide-ranging action on the internal market
At the beginning of the Czech Presidency, BusinessEurope insisted, in a position paper, on the need to make progress not only on the Single Market Emergency Instrument but also on all the proposals that set new requirements for products and services in Europe and [those] on data economy, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. As for social partner organisations, the Presidency must absolutely avoid and combat excessive bureaucracy; otherwise, the EU’s objectives—particularly those regarding reindustrialisation—will not be able to be achieved.
To consult the programme of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU: https://aeur.eu/f/2kd
To read the BusinessEurope document: https://aeur.eu/f/2ke (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)