Europe: EU should get an instrument of sanction against external pressure

Europe
EU should get a sanction instrument against external pressure

The interference of other countries in political decisions of the EU or its member states will in future be punished with far-reaching retaliatory measures.

The EU commission responsible for EU legislative proposals presented a new sanction instrument in Brussels. It would empower the Commission, for example, to impose trade or investment restrictions against third countries that interfere in an inadmissible manner in the political decisions of the EU or the EU member states.

Internal market as a means of pressure

Theoretically, it would therefore be conceivable to restrict the USA’s access to the EU internal market if the government in Washington tried to prevent the commissioning of the new Baltic Sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 between Russia and Germany with coercive measures. China, on the other hand, could face sanctions for threatening Lithuania with trade policy consequences because of its diplomatic rapprochement with Taiwan.

According to information from Lithuania, Lithuanian deliveries are no longer cleared by Chinese customs and import applications for goods are rejected.

“In times of increasing geopolitical tension, trade is being used more and more as a weapon, and the EU and its member states are becoming the target of economic intimidation,” said Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis of the proposal. The EU needed the right tools to respond.

Harsher punitive measures

In addition to import restrictions, punitive tariffs or investment bans should also come into question as punitive measures against third countries. In addition, for example, companies from the countries concerned could be excluded from public tenders and participation in EU programs.

Above all, the EU Commission hopes that the planned instrument will have a deterrent effect. The background to this is that the EU countries not only export many goods and services, but are also themselves a very important sales market for third countries. The EU has recently been China’s most important trading partner.

Dombrovskis emphasized that a dialogue should always be sought before any possible imposition of punitive measures. Countermeasures will only be taken if this does not lead to the objectionable coercive measures being withdrawn, he said.

Parliament’s turn

The governments in the Council of Member States and the European Parliament will now deal with the proposal for the new instrument. Approval is not certain, especially in the Council, as a number of countries there are careful not to hand over any further powers to the EU Commission. The Brussels authority said that the proposal was drawn up after an in-depth public consultation at EU level.

In this context, companies and industrial associations in particular pointed out the problem of economic intimidation and economic coercion against the interests of the EU and advocated an instrument of deterrence at EU level.

dpa