Planned EU rules to curb exports and monitor outbound investment need to be narrow and extremely focused, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovsksis said on Thursday.

The European Commission intends to present its “Economic Security Strategy” in late June, which is expected to contain measures to avoid sensitive technologies leaking out to China and other rivals.

The European Union and the United States are expected during a meeting of top officials in Sweden next week to commit to cooperate on export controls and investment screening.

“I think, two things, one is not to confuse economic security, which should be narrow and focused, with broader competitiveness or level playing field issues. Those are essential two different tracks,” Dombrovskis told a news conference after a meeting of trade ministers on Thursday.

The commissioner said the second point was that risks the EU wanted to limit should first be carefully identified before selecting appropriate measures.

EU trade ministers discussed the issue on Thursday, with around five raising concerns.

Johan Forssell, trade minister of Sweden, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said some of the concerns were over how screening of outbound investment would actually work.

“There is always a trade-off between the trade aspect and the security aspect. It’s important to find the right balance,” he told Reuters after the trade ministers meeting.

The European Union has many trade defence tools to limit imports and inward investment, but less for exports and investments abroad. 

Source: Reuters