BRUSSELS, 26th September, 2024 (WAM) -- The European Council has today given its final approval to a regulation establishing a framework of measures on the emergency and resilience of the internal market, better known as the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA). This is the last step in the decision-making procedure.
The regulation adopted today is intended to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to any future emergencies by monitoring any possible upcoming crises, activating vigilance or emergency modes as and when they happen and coordinating responses at the EU and member state level. The Council has also adopted a package of measures (the 'IMERA omnibus') that amend existing legislation in areas relating to the internal market and update them with regard to crisis situations.
IMERA creates an 'advisory group' formed by the European Commission and the member states to assess a given situation and recommend responses whenever the vigilance or emergency modes are activated.
IMERA provides for emergency last-resort measures such as targeted information requests to economic operators, priority-rated requests for crisis-relevant products, a procedure to fast-track the introduction of certain products into the market and derogations from product-specific rules.
The Commission will undertake stress tests and simulations of different crises to assess the possible impact on the free movement of goods, services and persons. Economic operators are also encouraged to develop protocols and conduct training and crisis simulations.