https://www.ft.com/content/984aa02b-31e2-4622-91d0-dd0776482ca8
Brussels is proposing wide-ranging powers to require businesses to stockpile supplies and break delivery contracts in order to shore up supply chains in the event of a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic. Draft legislation seen by the Financial Times would give the European Commission considerable leeway to declare an emergency, triggering a series of interventionist measures aimed at preventing product shortages in critical industries. Businesses are unhappy after being briefed on the plan, which is intended to protect the single market from supply shocks. “We would be very concerned if this proposal was adopted in such an interventionist shape,” said Martynas Barysas, director for the internal market at BusinessEurope, which represents employers in the bloc. “It could oblige member states to override contract law, force companies to disclose commercially sensitive information, and share their stockpiled products or dictate their production under any type of crisis the commission decides upon,” Barysas said.
