Single market emergency instrument
On 26 September 2024 the Council adopted the internal market emergency and resilience act, formerly known as the single market emergency instrument.
Building on lessons learned from recent emergencies such as COVID-19, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the energy supply crisis, this new mechanism aims to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impact of future crises.
The EU’s single market emergency instrument: bolstering the internal market in times of crisis
Crisis times
Kinds of crisis:
- natural disasters
- public health crises
- economic shocks
- security concerns
Impacts:
- obstacles to the free movement of goods, services or people
- companies face difficulties in sourcing, supplying or selling goods and services
- supply chains can quickly become interrupted
- consumer access to key products and services can be disrupted
single market emergency instrument
- creates a crisis-governance architecture for the single market (with a monitoring mechanism to identify threats)
- introduces an internal market emergency and resilience board to assess recommended response measures.
- ensures flexibility to take rapid and effective measures
HOW
Anticipate:
Focus on early warning system:
- internal market emergency and resilience board: strengthened during vigilance/emergency modes
- training and stress tests
Prepare:
- monitoring of supply chains
- increased transparency/ coordination between member states
- a ‘vigilance mode’ could be activated after a threat has been identified
Respond:
- activation/extension/deactivation of vigilance mode
- activation of the emergency mode
- adoption of crisis-relevant goods and services list
- coordination of procurements
- facilitation of movement of essential workers and critical goods