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About the EU economic security package "EU rules should boost investment, not hinder it!"

VDMA European Office
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Date

24 Jan 2024

Sections

Euro & Finance
 
Frankfurt/Brussels, 24 January 2024 – The EU Commission's economic security package contains key proposals on foreign direct investment in the EU and European investments abroad. Ulrich Ackermann, Head of VDMA Foreign Trade, comments:

•    "European investments abroad do not jeopardize public security and order in the EU. Insofar as they are linked to technology transfer, the EU's security interests are already protected by export controls for sensitive technology."

•    "European foreign investments are necessary to improve the international competitive position of European investors. They ensure the economic success of the EU and should, therefore, be supported rather than hindered."

•    "The VDMA is also skeptical about the proposal to revise the control of foreign direct investment in the EU. A revision only five years after entry into force will lead to legal uncertainty for companies. This is unjustified."

•    "The economic security package also includes the creation of a "White Paper on Export Controls". The VDMA reaffirms its critical stance towards the EU harmonization of export controls. So far, every harmonization step taken by the EU Commission has made export controls more complex and complicated, with even more bureaucracy for the companies concerned, without leading to improvements."

A photo of Ulrich Ackermann, Head of VDMA Foreign Trade, can be found here.
 
 
VDMA represents more than 3600 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies. The industry stands for innovation, export orientation and SMEs. The companies employ around 3 million people in the EU-27, more than 1.2 million of them in Germany alone. This makes mechanical and plant engineering the largest employer among the capital goods industries, both in the EU-27 and in Germany. In the European Union, it represents a turnover volume of an estimated 770 billion euros. Around 80 percent of the machinery sold in the EU comes from a manufacturing plant in the domestic market.