Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 establishing a framework of measures related to an internal market emergency and to the resilience of the internal market (Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act)

What it is

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the Single Market is one of the EU’s greatest assets and provides the backbone for the EU’s economic growth and wellbeing. Recent crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have demonstrated some vulnerability of the Single Market and its supply chains in case of unforeseen disruptions. The EU was not sufficiently prepared to ensure efficient manufacturing, procurement and distribution of crisis-relevant non-medical goods such as personal protective equipment, especially in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ad-hoc measures taken by the Commission in order to re-establish the functioning of the Single Market and to ensure the availability of crisis-relevant non-medical goods during the COVID-19 pandemic were necessarily reactive. The pandemic also revealed insufficient overview of manufacturing capacities across the Union. The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection adopted the report by Andreas SCHWAB (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Single Market emergency instrument and repealing Council Regulation No (EC) 2679/98. As a reminder, the proposed Single market Emergency Instrument (SMEI) is intended to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impacts of crises. It builds on lessons learnt from recent emergencies by continuously monitoring potential future crises, by entering vigilance or emergency modes whenever a threat becomes clear and by putting in place a governance architecture that enables Member States to coordinate decision-making. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: Members suggested changing the name of the instrument from the Single Market emergency instrument (SMEI) to the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA) and introducing additional changes to strengthen the Union’s resilience. Contrary to the Commission’s proposal to establish an advisory board, Members proposed setting up an internal market emergency and resilience board to be composed of one representative from each Member State and one expert appointed by the European Parliament. The Commission should chair the Board and provide its secretariat. The Board may adopt opinions, recommendations or reports, which should be made publicly available, without prejudice to personal data or trade secrets. Members also proposed that the Commission should ensure the participation of the European Parliament and of all bodies at Union level that are relevant to the respective crisis. In addition, the Commission should, in particular, ensure equal access to all information, so that the European Parliament and Council receive all documents at the same time. The report noted that the Commission, taking into account the opinion of the Board, may initiate,…

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