European economic security strategy

Background

Since the inception of the Single Market, the EU has prioritized open, rule-based trade and economic stability. Recent global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions, underscored vulnerabilities in Europe's economic structure, compelling a strategic response. The EC Communication on the European Economic Security Strategy outlines an approach to ensure resilience against emerging risks and safeguard Europe’s technological and economic interests.

The Strategy emphasizes three primary pillars: enhancing EU competitiveness, protecting against four main types of economic security risks, and fostering global partnerships. The Communication outlines measures like investing in future technologies, diversifying supply sources, and enhancing collaboration with nations sharing mutual economic security concerns. The new guidelines also stress the synergy between economic and national security, highlighting areas like dual-use technologies and critical infrastructure protection. With this new Strategy, the EU aims to strike a balance between open trade and other important policy objectives like sustainable development on one hand, and safeguarding its economic security, both present and future, on the other.

Practical information

• Composition of the Study Group
• Administrator / Assistant in charge: Marco RISTORI / Karen AGHADJIAN
• Contact: Marco Ristori +32 25469969  Marco.Ristori@eesc.europa.eu

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes the Communication on "European Economic Security Strategy" as a topical initiative to respond to the new and constantly changing geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions.  While endorsing the risk-based approach, the EESC also calls for a comprehensive assessment of the EU's strengths and of the opportunities that global challenges may present;
• stresses that investment in innovation, skills development and industrial capacities, together with ensuring a well-functioning internal market are indispensable means of both strengthening productivity and competitiveness and decreasing critical dependencies, while at the same time preserving the EU's social market economy. Other fundamental aspects include energy, raw materials, digital capacity and a stable access to finance, which requires the completion of the Capital Markets Union and the Banking Union;
• calls for making full use of trade and investment agreements and rapidly concluding ongoing trade negotiations, as well as starting new negotiations with new potential partners, to diversify supply chains and expand product markets. Boosting rules-based multilateral trade and global agreements should also be priorities for the EU;
• highlights the need for decisive countering and protective measures related to trade, investment or technology cooperation in the case third countries pose a risk to the economic security of the EU;
• calls on EU policymakers to enhance conditions that enable, encourage and support EU businesses, including MSMEs, to manage the geoeconomic risks in their operations, and to ensure that policy measures do not incur disproportionate costs or hindrances for them;
• calls for the involvement of EU businesses and other relevant civil society actors in the further elaboration and implementation of the economic security strategy and highlights the need for strengthening synergies between Member States, thus contributing to the unity, global strength and overall economic security of the EU.