EU draws up economic security plans, with mind on China

The European Commission will set out plans on Wednesday to bolster the European Union’s economic security through closer scrutiny of foreign investment and tighter controls on exports and outflows of technologies to rivals such as China.

The EU executive will present a broad document for debate along with a proposed new law that will require all EU countries to screen and possibly block foreign investments in the bloc to determine if they pose a security risk.

The Commission will outline its ideas on how better to coordinate export controls, particularly for products that could have military applications, and more tightly control who can participate in and access research in key technologies.

It will also press for new measures that would limit leakage of sensitive technologies to destinations or countries “of concern”.

The plans will not name any country, but the EU has stressed working with “reliable partners” and “de-risking”, the bloc’s policy of reducing economic reliance on China, which dominates green tech and key mineral production and which the bloc regards with more suspicion due to its close ties to Russia.

via Reuters