Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to introduce protectionist measures for companies in several strategic industries in the European Union.
„The main idea of trying to protect European business, if that is the goal of the „Buy European“ initiative, is to avoid trade or cooperation with other countries and I am skeptical of that. We should be able to oppose manufacturers from other countries in the name of quality, in the name of innovation, not in the name of protecting the European market“, Kristersson said in an interview with The Financial Times.
The Swedish prime minister believes that protectionist measures will not help. "There is no point in protecting European companies that are not competitive overall." Kristershon backed the idea of "pragmatic federalism," promoted by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The idea is that European countries seeking to deepen economic cooperation could do so without the involvement of eurosceptic members. "If we wait for everyone to decide to engage in deeper cooperation, then I think we will simply be too slow," Kristershon said.
Ahead of European leaders meeting at the Industrial Summit in Antwerp on Thursday, Macron reiterated that European countries should pursue a "Buy European" policy to support their own producers. This could include sectors such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and the chemicals industry. At the meeting, EU leaders plan to discuss measures to strengthen the bloc's industrial potential.