Across the EU, business representatives want to know what to expect with regard to how the EU’s economic security strategy will be implemented (see EUROPE 13335/1). Posed questions by some members of the organisation BusinessEurope on Tuesday, 2 July, European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis hardly gave any clues as to the decisions the European Commission would be making in the coming months. He tried to reassure them by insisting that any initiative on economic security would need to be “targeted”.
In particular, companies are worried about controls on outbound investments (see EUROPE 13435/21). “We will need to work closely with you and other organisations to find the right balance”, affirmed Mr Dombrovskis.
Nothing is expected on this front before autumn 2025. Until then, Member States are responsible for collecting, rather broadly, information on outbound investments.
The decision to take a measured approach to economic security is shared by Sabine Weyand, director-general of the Directorate-General for Trade at the European Commission. Speaking during a European Council on Foreign Relations webinar on Tuesday, 2 July, she warned against [looking at the issue through] an economic “security prism”—which, according to her view, is synonymous with a loss of efficiency.
“If we only focus on security, we really make ourselves more vulnerable to security threats”, she insisted. “So, we need to look at both competitiveness and security.” (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)