European economic security strategy

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.