European Commission plans a new policy to deter economic threats

Brussels The European Commission wants to set up a new sanctions instrument to shield EU member states from economic intimidation “at a time of rising geopolitical tensions.” European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the European Union needs the mechanism as a deterrence after previous attempts to coerce some member states. “The weaponisation of trade for other geopolitical purposes is a fact,” he said in a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday. Investment restrictions, exclusion from the EU’s single market and punitive tariffs on countries attempting economic intimidation are some of the options available in a coercion scenario, he said. He said the instrument is to be used as a last resort if negotiations fail to end the economic pressures an EU state. (Agencies)