Make Single Market crisis-proof by stopping unlawful border closures

The EPP Group wants to prevent unlawful border closures in the future, like those that occurred during the COVID pandemic, to ensure the smooth functioning of the EU internal market during the next crisis. This morning, the European Parliament and the EU Member States finally reached an agreement on the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA), the new instrument to strengthen the free movement of people and ensure the supply of crisis-relevant goods to all EU citizens.

"From today onwards, Europe can better face future crises. However, a lot still needs to be done to coordinate the 27 Member States. IMERA strengthens crisis management, especially for persons in cross-border regions, by compiling a comprehensive blacklist of reasons under which Member States are prohibited from closing their borders. Additionally, the Commission will develop templates for service providers and workers, who need to cross the border. This is the first step to allow border-crossing via QR Code in the next emergency," said Andreas Schwab MEP, the EPP Group's Spokesman in the Internal Market Committee and the Parliament's negotiator on the legislation.

IMERA will also promote resilience by allowing the Commission to procure on behalf of Member States and request companies to produce certain goods, such as vaccines as a priority.