Crisis proofing the internal market and learning lessons from COVID-19 pandemic 

The SMEI regulation – that MEPs want to be renamed Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA) – aims to establish general crisis management procedures for the EU to enable efficient and fast responses to future crises. Taking the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the regulation focuses on safeguarding the free movement of goods, services and people in Europe as well as on ensuring the availability of vital crisis-relevant goods.

New system of threat levels

The proposal would establish a new system of alert levels. Absent a crisis, the Commission and member states would focus on contingency measures. The Commission would offer training, stress tests, preparedness advice and coordination, making sure cooperation and communication networks are in place.

When the Commission identifies a potential threat, a so-called vigilance mode is activated to gather strategic information, make detailed plans, and take other preparative actions. In case of an escalation in, or a sudden onset of, a crisis, an emergency mode would be announced to enable the Commission to deploy an additional set of crisis measures.

Coordination, information and facilitation of free movement

To avoid a situation where member states enforce different rules, they would have to inform the Commission of all their crisis measures before adoption, if possible. After examining them, the Commission would be able to request changes if it considers them unlawful, disproportionate or discriminating.

In case of unavoidable border closures or travel restrictions, the Commission would have to ensure the unimpeded free movement of essential people, goods and services. Among other things, the Commission should establish fast lanes and provide necessary templates or single digital declaration, registration or authorisation forms for cross-border activities. The rules also prevent member states from restricting the intra-EU export of goods or provision of services.

Avoiding shortages

The new rules aim to avoid shortages of crisis-relevant goods, too, and for this reason the Commission would be allowed to offer companies so-called priority orders that would take precedence over other contracts or performance obligations. Additionally, the regulation lays down rules for the Commission to procure goods on behalf of or jointly with member states and to request information from member states and companies on their stock or production capabilities of crisis-relevant goods. It would also allow the Commission to advise member states on the use of their strategic reserves and coordinate help to countries experiencing a disruption. MEPs did not support the Commission’s proposal to set individual targets for countries on crisis goods quantities and deadlines.

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After the vote, rapporteur Andreas Schwab (EPP, DE) commented: “COVID-19 taught us nobody is safe until everybody is safe and that national approaches to border closures, procurement or export controls do not work. The Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Instrument (IMERA) aims to solve pandemic era challenges related to internal borders and the internal market. It also takes into account the resilience concerns stemming from Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The EU and its internal market must remain functional, even in crisis. Therefore, we must strengthen the free movement of persons and ensure the supply of crisis-relevant goods to all EU citizens.”

Next steps

The committee adopted the rapport with 31 votes for, 8 against and 2 abstentions. It will now have to be approved at a later plenary session and after which Parliament can start negotiations with the Council on the final wording of the regulation.