The initiative to establish a new Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI) is still under discussion within the European Commission, according to information obtained on Monday 29 August.
Interdepartmental discussions are slowly progressing on the issue of governance (consideration is being given to a new forum or group of experts), on the definition of an emergency situation and also on the proper articulation with other existing crisis response mechanisms such as the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). A gradual approach depending on the intensity of the crisis would be envisaged, we were told.
Last June, we reported in our pages (see EUROPE 12981/17) that the European Commission was hesitating between binding measures and recommendations and was considering which products and services are indispensable in a crisis context and which national measures are incompatible with crisis situations.
One of the thorniest issues would be the possibility for the institution to force economic operators to increase their production capacity of certain products or the obligation to disclose certain critical information.
The European Commission will present its initiative on 13 September, in the wake of the European Commission President’s State of the Union address (see EUROPE B1300306). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)