EU Eyes More Unified Approach to Export Controls
The EU plans to update its export controls to make them more effective amid rapid geopolitical and technological change, a government official said March 19.
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The EU will experience “an expansion of our regulatory frameworks in this area and in some cases probably an expansion of our existing legal authorities for essential security and for broader economic security reasons,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under a policy for certain government personnel at the BIS annual update conference.
One specific regulatory step the EU intends to take “soon” will seek to create uniform export controls for important technology areas across the bloc’s 27 member states. The measure won't only help prevent “technology leakage” to countries of concern, it also will provide a more integrated market for U.S. companies and other non-EU firms, the official said.
In addition, the European Commission is about to publish a recommendation to create a system to promote cooperation among EU members’ national export control regimes, the official said. The commission also plans to launch a review of its legal authorities for export controls.
The official said the EU has already worked to “mobilize export controls in new, ambitious ways to respond to major, strategic, global threats.” It introduced “massive, unprecedented” export restrictions on Russia following that country’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine (see 2412160024). Last year, the EU tightened export controls to counter Iran’s missile and drone programs (see 2410150021, 2411180008 and 2405140022).