European Council Agrees to Negotiating Position on Economic Anti-Coercion Instrument
EU member states agreed Nov. 16 to their negotiating position on the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), a regulation that would protect the EU from "economic coercion by third countries." ACI "will allow the EU to defend itself better on the global stage through a large variety of response measures," the European Council said. "In this mandate, the Council seeks an enhanced involvement in the decision-making process by conferring implementing powers to itself to determine what constitutes economic coercion," it said. The European Commission would keep its powers in deciding on the EU's response measures, the council said.
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Under the ACI, the EU would be able to impose trade restrictions via increased customs duties, import or export licenses or restrictions in services, public procurement or foreign direct investment, the council said. "These measures would be applied without a retroactive character and respecting the proportionality with regards to the damage caused." Countermeasures would be used only "as a last resort when there is no other way to address economic intimidation."
The council and the European Parliament will next consider the regulation "under the ordinary legislative procedure."