Germany and France are calling for a new EU enforcement lever that could, in severe cases, shut access to the bloc's market when trade ties are being undermined. Writing on Monday, they addressed their letter to Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the European Commission, and said, "We need a credible instrument in the hands of the Commission to allow for decisive and systemic reaction," while also proposing "powerful measures up to an immediate cut-off from the internal market if needed." The message also argues Europe is facing "unprecedented challenges," and says, "We need urgent action to address these threats, to diversify and to derisk."
The note does not name China, but it lands as the EU looks to rebalance its economic ties with Beijing. With Berlin and Paris aligned, the ideas carry more weight ahead of an EU summit next week that will take up the issue. According to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the plan was the product of collaborative efforts by teams in Berlin and Paris, coming at a moment when the bloc is being "massively affected" by unfair trade practices; he added that the commission needs stronger tools. "We want to enable the European Commission to act quickly when necessary," he told reporters, adding that "The drawback of European trade policy in recent years has always been that decision-making took too long."
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German officials, speaking anonymously, described the market-access measure as a second strike option in a full-on trade clash with a country such as China. One example they gave: deploying it if China stopped all exports of rare earths, which the EU counts on for modern technologies. Beyond this, Berlin and Paris want the EU to step up investigations across whole industries, including chemicals, plastics and hybrid cars, to test whether they face unfair competition from heavily subsidized imports that could justify new tariffs. Today, EU probes typically target specific products rather than entire sectors.
In response, Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has opened another round of talks and plans a trip to China at week's end to assess progress ahead of the summit. At the same time, EU policymakers in Brussels are weighing new trade tools to react faster and more forcefully to countries that undermine trade relations, along with steps to push supply chain diversification.
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