Strengthening EU Economy Security

Improve its information gathering and analysis capacity by advancing risk assessments more rapidly on specific critical supply chains, critical infrastructure and critical technologies, and launching regular calls for evidence to obtain industry and stakeholder input into supply chain vulnerabilities and exposure to external pressure.

Promote greater coordination and information exchange through its EconomicSecurity Network with Member States. The Commission will use the Network to promote scenario development, align understanding of threats, risks and scope for mitigation, facilitate information exchange and support implementation, particularly in the use of the tools that are in the remit of Member State responsibilities. In this context, the Commission will ensure that there are suitable information systems available to support the rapid and secure exchange of classified information among and with MemberStates on economic security issues – including on risk assessments, critical and high-risk entities, and transactions of potential concern. This will complement the work of the EU stockpiling network, which focuses on ensuring the supply of essential goods in crisis situations.

Create an Economic Security Information Hub where with the support of EEAS, INTCEN/SIAC, the EU’s Delegation network and Member States,as well as existing Single Market economic monitoring tools like the Supply Chain Alert Notification (SCAN); it will map and consolidate available information under existing public and private mechanisms and coordinate the collection of additional information relevant for economic security. This will include a market monitoring mechanism to collect information on developments in high-risk areas, including rapid information on trade flows in sectors subject to diversification to ensure that EU action isn’t undermined. It will also consolidate information on high-risk entities to support the process of assessing eligibility for EU funding and participation in an EU investment or procurement process. In addition, the European Customs Authority and the EU Customs Data Hub would allow to efficiently support and enforce the implementation of the related EU economicsecurity initiatives facilitating also the exchange of relevant information.

Intensify structured engagement by EU Delegations, liaising with Member State Missions, other EU bodies and the EU business community present in third countries; to ensure effective contributions to risk assessments, monitoring and mitigation with regard to economic security, including by facilitating business-to-business and business-to-government exchanges.

Assess by Q3 2026 the extent to which the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA) allows to gather company level supply chain information from businesses in high-risk sectors. In light of this analysis, the Commission will assess the necessity for further measures.

Recommend that Member States nominate senior-level National Economic SecurityAdvisers responsible for cross-government coordination of economic security risk assessment and mitigation. The Commission will promote greater policy coordination and joint actions by regularly bringing these advisers together. It also invites the Council of the EU to consider regularly convening the relevant Council formations for political-level discussions.

Create a trusted adviser group drawn from EU business representatives to, among others, advise on specific risks and potential responses as well as discuss de-risking strategies. The Commission will regularly invite industry representatives to participate in sector-specific discussions of the Economic Security Network and, where relevant, debrief European Commissioners.

Set up a Trade Resilience Information Portal to provide EU businesses with up-to-date information, as part of the Access to Markets (A2M) portal, on export restrictions and other restrictive measures imposed by third countries, as well as on the potential risks linked to the need to build EU resilience.

Expand the Observatory on Critical Technologies to identify, monitor and analyse the defence and space industry and related supply chains, and to cover emerging technologies and to support implementation at EU and national level of the resulting EU technology roadmaps.

Use the future Centre of Expertise on Research Security to promote research security and increase the research community’s resilience, including by developing a due diligence platform to support universities in choosing their international partners.

Explore ways to align and integrate candidate countries with our economic securityapproach, especially in those areas where their economic security vulnerabilities can pose a security risk to the EU.

Going forward, the Commission will incentivise in its funding activities projectsthat support the EU’s economic security.

In particular it should mobilise a sufficient level of funding for reducing dependencies of critical technologies, components and materials especially in strategic sectors as space and defence, including to fully implement the Observatory for Critical Technologies’ (OCT) technology roadmaps.

The Commission, Member States and implementing partners should seek to prevent access by high-risk entities to sensitive Union supported actions. Article 136 of the Financial Regulation provides a horizontal legal base to protect the EU’s security and public order when the Commission and implementing partners implement the EU budget. This allows preventing high-risk entities from benefitting from EU funds as well as restricting access to EU funds in the strategic sectors and areas of critical technology and infrastructure by entities coming from third countries which undermine the EU economic security interests. For the avoidance of doubt implementing partners should refrain from supporting projects that contradict the above, including in operations at own risk. To that end and to ensure better policy alignment between EU programmes and economic security aims guidance will be made available in Q1 2026, thereby supporting the development of a more cohesive and effective approach. Furthermore, the Commission will encourage the Member States, the EIB group and otherIFIs/national promotional banks and institutions that are implementingnational or EU budgets to prioritise support to EU businesses that reduce foreign dependencies in critical sectors, especially for specific projects, critical technologies and critical infrastructure identified as high-risk. Similarly, third- country high-risk suppliers should be prevented from accessing EU and national funding where those third countries, based on specific criteria, are identified as undermining EU economic security interests.

FDI screening: Develop guidelines drawing on the experience of implementing the current FDI Screening Regulation to ensure national screening authorities approach screening consistently, including in strategic sectors. The guidelines would also set out how to take account of the potential cumulative risk of multiple investments.This will be complemented by guidance on the interplay between any EU level requirements and the application of national screening mechanisms in the financial sector.

Export Controls of Dual-Use items: Carry out an overall evaluation of the Dual-Use Export Control Regulation. As part of this evaluation, the Commission will assess whether the Regulation achieves its objectives in the context of the new geopolitical and geoeconomic realities, including the impacts of increasing recourse to unilateral controls that may also impact the Single Market. It will continue exploring with Member States how to efficiently adopt European controls in emerging technology areas in this new context. During the evaluation process, the Commission will ensure active outreach to stakeholders from the Member States, industry, research institutes and academia.

Trade defence instruments: When a case of relevance for the EU’s economic security is initiated, the EU’seconomic security will be reflected in the conduct of the investigation and in the design of possible measures.

Internal Market, Customs and Competition tools: Make full use of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation to maintain fair competition in areas where foreign subsidies lead to distortions that pose economic security risks.

Encourage Member States to make full use of existing State aid possibilities, such as the Clean Industrial State Aid Framework, the Regional Aid Guidelines, the Research Development and Innovation framework, the General Block Exemption Regulation and important projects of common European interest as instruments to build greater resilience.

Review the use of strategic customs instruments (tariff suspensions,autonomous quotas) for key inputs with the view to support the competitiveness of Union enterprises.

Explore putting in place on a pilot basis an EU-level start-up monitoring mechanismaimed at identifying startups in critical technology areas that are vulnerable to therisk of hostile foreign acquisitions, redirecting them to EU investment alternatives and other forms of support (e.g., advisory, capacity-building, matchmaking with investors). The mechanism would work in lockstep with existing initiatives, such as the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy.

Work with supervisory authorities to monitor portfolio investments, (that fall outside the scope of the FDI coordination mechanism), in areas identified as high-risk for economic security purposes.

Include an economic security component for key strategic sectors in the upcoming Competitiveness Coordination Tool.

Strengthen the EU’s industrial base and supply chains resilience through the IndustrialAccelerator Act.

As outlined in ResourceEU, further develop secondary markets for critical raw materials, including through the Circular Economy Act, to make it easier to finance strategic CRM projects in areas identified as high-risk for economic security purposes.

Assess by Q3 2026 ways of strengthening the protection of the industry from unfairtrade policies and negative global market developments, such as overcapacity. Here, the Commission will evaluate the effectiveness and adequacy of the existing tools and consider the necessity of possible new measures.

Review the Blocking Statute to simplify its application and reduce compliance costs for EU persons and businesses and create a credible deterrent against the extra-territorial application of third-country sanctions. This will strengthen European economic security by better protecting EU operators from conflicting third-country measures and by ensuring a more predictable, effective and assertive framework.

Explore the modalities of encouraging companies in specific high-risk sectors to ensure that supplies are sourced from at least two different suppliers and limit exposure to a single dominant supplier.

Explore the scope to provide financial support to companies subject to FDI screeningdecisions in situations where their financial viability may be at risk absent an investment, without prejudice to State aid rules.

As part of the review of the Public Procurement Directives, propose Europeanpreference criteria in specific strategic sectors in which our public procurement stimulates demand for European industrial leadership, increases our resilience and mitigates risks for security.

Incentivise companies to reduce dependencies in emerging technology areas as part of the upcoming Chips Act 2.0, Quantum Act, Cloud and AI Development Act and Commission Strategy on Open Source.

Use the upcoming review of the Cybersecurity Act to enact at EU level restrictions on access of high-risk suppliers to critical infrastructure.