|
The
27-nation bloc has been considering how to become more
independent in several strategic areas ever since the COVID-19
pandemic showed that a breakdown of global supply chains could
leave the EU without access to pharmaceuticals or microchips.
The war in Ukraine only made that more clear, EU officials said,
as Europe will now struggle to wean itself off Russian gas, oil,
coal and raw materials and possibly find alternative suppliers
of wheat.
"Confronted with growing instability, strategic competition and
security threats, we decided to ... take further decisive steps
towards building our European sovereignty, reducing our
dependencies," a draft joint declaration of the leaders meeting
in Versailles outside Paris, showed.
The declaration said the EU would reduce its dependence on
imported critical raw materials through strategic partnerships,
stockpiling, recycling and resource efficiency.
In semi-conductors the EU wants build its own factories and
double its share of the global market to 20% by 2030, the draft
said. Semi-conductors are now mainly bought from Taiwan and the
United States.
The EU will also make more pharmaceuticals in the bloc rather
than importing them from China, invest in research and
development in the health sector and in digital technologies
like artificial intelligence, Cloud and 5G mobile telephony
deployment, the document said.
To become more independent in food, the EU will boost production
of plant-based proteins, it said.
It said the leaders want to finance such policies through the
European and national budgets, using public money to attract
much bigger private investment. They also want to use the
European Investment Bank, which is owned by EU governments, "to
catalyse investments, including higher risk-financing for
entrepreneurship and innovation."
France and Italy have been pushing for the EU to agree to new
joint debt issuance for the expected increased outlays, modelled
on the EU's 800 billion euros recovery fund, of which only 74
billion euros have been disbursed so far.
But others like Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and the Nordic
countries oppose that, arguing the EU should first use the cash
already agreed before borrowing more.
The leaders will also declare that their fiscal policy will have
to give them leeway for more spending on defence, investment and
dealing with the negative economic effects of the war in
Ukraine, the draft said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
