France, Germany call for new EU trade tool to counter market distortions
By Cynthia Kroet ( October 5, 2026, 15:31 GMT | Insight) -- France and Germany have urged the European Commission to design a new trade instrument that could restrict access to the EU single market in response to systemic distortions by non-EU countries, as part of a broader push to strengthen the bloc's defenses against economic dependencies and industrial overcapacity. The initiative comes amid growing EU pressure on China over industrial overcapacity, market access and economic dependencies.France and Germany are calling for a new EU trade instrument that could allow the European Commission to immediately cut non-EU countries off from the bloc's internal market in response to severe and systematic market distortions in a move that is likely to be seen as targeting China....
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