Brussels is proposing wide-ranging powers to require businesses to stockpile supplies and break delivery contracts in order to shore up supply chains in the event of a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic. Photograph: Olivier Hoslett/EPABrussels is proposing wide-ranging powers to require businesses to stockpile supplies and break delivery contracts in order to shore up supply chains in the event of a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic.
“We would be very concerned if this proposal was adopted in such an interventionist shape,” said Martynas Barysas, director for the internal market at BusinessEurope, which represents employers in the bloc. Mr Barysas said companies agreed with a proposal for a mechanism that would prevent a repeat of disruption suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, when some member states closed borders and restricted exports. But he said companies believed the current plan was too intrusive and should give business more flexibility.
The final version of the proposals should be adopted by the EU commissioners on September 13 as a centrepiece of commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address the next day. During the pandemic, the EU passed legislation allowing export bans on vaccines in retaliation for the US blocking shipments of shots to the bloc. Governments also asked companies to shift production to face masks, gowns and ventilators amid a global shortage.
Never let a crisis go to waste in the pursuit of state power
IrishTimes