The General Affairs Council on Monday 6 February failed to achieve consensus among Member States on the exact response to the US IRA, which risks causing some EU industries to relocate to the US in order to receive aid. The European affairs ministers were to “prepare” for the discussion of the heads of State or government on 9 and 10 February in Brussels.
“We had a fruitful exchange; however, Member States have different views on what the European response should be. The consequences of the IRA must be analysed and dealt with carefully”, said the Swedish minister for European affairs, Jessika Roswall, after the ministers’ meeting.
In particular, many member countries are cautious about the European Sovereignty Fund, which has been under discussion for several weeks and was mentioned in the European Commission’s communication of 1 February (see EUROPE 13112/1). “We believe that firstly we should use all the available resources we have right now”, said the Slovakian Secretary of State for European Affairs, Andrej Stančík, on 6 February.
The draft conclusions of the extraordinary EU summit on 9-10 February reflect this position rather well. “The European Council invites the Commission and the Council to take work forwards to ensure full mobilisation of available funding and existing financial instruments, so as to provide timely and targeted support in the strategic sectors”, it says in the conclusions dated 2 February. The heads of state or government should then only “note” the Commission’s proposal on the Sovereignty Fund (see EUROPE 13114/4).
See the provisional conclusions of the extraordinary European Council: https://aeur.eu/f/57W
The leaders’ discussion should focus on short-term measures. They should also insist on the “urgent” need to react to support businesses.
The Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, also expressed this idea: “Based on my first-hand experience with the EU battery alliance, I can testify time is of the essence here. Our competitors are moving at full steam”, he said.
In parallel with the EU’s work to strengthen its competitiveness, French and German ministers Bruno Le Maire and Robert Habeck are visiting Washington on 6-7 February to try to convince the US to give European companies a better deal in the IRA. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)