As trade has become weaponised by major powers, protectionism rises and conflicts proliferate, long-held assumptions about economic security have been cast aside. Supply disruption of vital goods such as energy, rare earths, and semiconductors require active risk management and proactive policy measures to increase resilience. In this Insights, Andrew McDowell discusses various EU initiatives designed to enhance the bloc’s economic security, including the Chips Act and the Industrial Accelerator Act, as well as assessing how the screening of inward investment into the EU is working in practice.

Andrew McDowell is Director General of EIB Global and a former Vice-President of the European Investment Bank. Previously he worked as a Partner in PwC’s strategy consulting business in Luxembourg and as Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Chief Economic Advisor, when he played a central role in steering Ireland out of the 2010-2013 EU-IMF bailout.