WORLD NEWS | EU unveils plan to protect economy from rivals.China in focus, but not mentioned in proposal

BRUSSELS, June 20 (AP) — The European Union unveiled a proposal Tuesday to protect the bloc’s economy from risks posed by unreliable suppliers from countries that don’t share its values, such as China, after the Ukraine war exposed European oil and gas to Russia.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is working to develop measures to protect trade and investment, especially in technology and communications, which rivals could exploit for security or military purposes.

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Announcing the proposal, which must be endorsed by EU member states, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “In a world where competition and geopolitics have become more intense, key technologies that can be used in different and positive ways Limited.”

“Given the changing nature of risks, we now need a strategic vision of how we are going to deal with them,” von der Leyen told reporters. Develop new tools.

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The plans were advertised as “country agnostic” because no target country was named by name, but they dovetailed with the Commission’s new move to “downgrade” relations with China without fully “decoupling” because of its reliance on Asia Giants tackle global challenges like climate change.

Von der Leyen said that the funds, expertise and research of European companies must not be “misused for military applications by the countries concerned”. In particular, she raised concerns about the security of 5G and 6G telecommunications networks.

The committee identified Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE as high-risk suppliers. In recent days, it has backed moves by some of the 27 EU member states to exclude the companies from their 5G networks.

The aim of the new plan is to make European economies and supply chains more resilient to threats – from problems such as energy or rising inflation caused by war – while keeping trade flowing. Under the plan, the EU will work with countries that share concerns about economic security.

“We cannot treat supply dependence on systemic competitors in the same way we treat allies,” said Margaret Vestager, the commission’s executive vice-chairman.

Other risks to address include those posed to cybersecurity or critical infrastructure such as pipelines, submarine cables, generators and transportation networks.

The threat posed by countries using trade or investment to change EU policy would also be addressed.

The challenge will be to unite EU member states, each with its own national policies towards countries like China and Russia, around the plans. EU leaders are expected to discuss the plan at a summit in Brussels on June 29-30. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)