Van der Leyen's push for purchasing European goods meets opposition from nine countries
The European Commission is about to release the "Industrial Accelerator Act," promoting the so-called "buying European goods" agenda, encouraging EU countries to purchase more products made in Europe. However, according to a report by Politico Europe on December 5, this move has been opposed by nine EU countries, including the Czech Republic, which believe that mandating the purchase of EU products will only harm the European economy.
The Financial Times reported on the 8th that an internal schedule of the EU showed that due to the intense controversy caused by the European Commission's proposal and the opposition from multiple member states and institutions, the EU will delay the "Made in Europe" agenda until January 28 of next year.
The EU is expected to officially release the "Industrial Accelerator Act" on December 10 local time. The act aims to promote the transformation of European industry and encourage low-carbon industrial production. President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, included the "Buy European Goods" agenda in the act, aiming to ensure that European producers can obtain billions of euros in procurement contracts covering areas such as wind turbines and computers.
Von der Leyen and other EU leaders believe that in awarding major project contracts, the EU must give priority to local industrial and technology leaders to succeed in global competition.
However, smaller EU countries view von der Leyen's agenda as completely unacceptable. These countries believe that their economies can maintain competitiveness only if they can freely choose the best products at reasonable prices. The European Commission wants EU countries to prioritize purchasing European products, but these countries prefer to buy goods from countries like China.
The report said that nine EU countries—Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, and Sweden—have raised objections, expressing concerns that von der Leyen's agenda could isolate certain sectors of the EU economy from the global market, ultimately harming the European economy.
These EU countries also pointed out that the "Buy European Goods" agenda would grant more privileges to large companies in France and Germany, reducing the competitive pressure faced by French and German enterprises, thus leading these companies to charge unreasonable high prices to suppliers and customers.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850944799213572/
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