EU leaders to debate economic security amid global tensions

The meeting in southern Spain will help steer discussions in the coming months

GRANADA (Reuters) - European Union leaders will debate on Friday how their bloc can strengthen its competitiveness, be at the forefront of new green and digital technologies and reduce its reliance on third countries, notably China.

In a letter to leaders before the summit, European Council president Charles Michel said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had set Europe on a course to reduce its energy dependency and build a more robust economic base.

The Granada summit, he said, would be a time to look forward by defining a strategy to ensure EU’s resilience and competitiveness in a challenging geopolitical environment.

The meeting in southern Spain will help steer discussions in the coming months on European Commission proposals that could lead to tighter control of exports and outflows of technologies, particularly those that could be put to military use.

The EU executive plans to work with the 27 EU members to assess by the end of the year whether there are any risks to the bloc’s economic security linked to advanced semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum technology and biotechnology.

It is part of the European Economic Security Strategy unveiled by the Commission in June that calls for strengthening the EU’s own internal market, fostering research, forging alliances with reliable partner and using existing trade defence tools and considering new ones.

Part of the debate will centre on the degree to which countries are willing to harmonise their policies on national security and transfer certain powers to Brussels.

Another aspect will be the extent to which European markets should remain open to foreign companies.

Countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands want more open markets, while others such as France has more focus on protecting domestic producers.