Common EU rules for exports

KEY POINTS

The regulation applies to all products, whether industrial or agricultural.

Protective measures

• In order to prevent a critical situation from arising due to a shortage of essential products, the European Commission may make the export of a good subject to the production of an export authorisation. The measures may be limited to exports to certain countries or to exports from certain regions of the EU. They will not, however, affect products already on their way to the EU frontier.
• For instance, in the context of the outbreak of COVID-19 for example, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/402, for a limited period of time, required certain personal protective equipment — whether or not it originated in the EU — to be authorised by EU countries’ competent authorities for export outside the EU, other than to countries in the European Free Trade Association, territories dependent on EU supply chains (e.g. Andorra) and certain overseas territories. The measure sought to ensure that personal protective equipment was available in EU countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The implementing act laid down the procedure to request the authorisation and its Annex I listed the products requiring authorisation (protective glasses and visors, gloves, protective garments, mouth-nose-protection equipment and face shields).
• The Commission must adopt any protective measures in the interests of the EU with due regard for existing international obligations (for example, stemming from the EU’s membership of the World Trade Organization).

Information and consultation

• If an EU country considers that protective measures might be necessary due to unusual developments on the market, it must notify the Commission. The latter then advises the other EU countries.
• The Commission may request EU countries to supply statistical data on market trends in a particular product in order to assess the economic and commercial situation as regards that product.

Implementation

The Committee on Safeguards comprising EU countries’ representatives, set up under Regulation (EU) 2015/478 on common rules for imports, assists the Commission in implementing the regulation.