The Department for Economic Affairs deals with competitiveness, trade policy, cohesion-, structural and regional policy, competition policy, telecommunications and postal services, company law, energy policy, housing, construction and urban development policy, media and culture as well as sports policy:
(*The Division for Environmental Policy is part of the Department for Economic Affairs but will be shown separately.)

Competitiveness

• Industrial policy
• Internal Market policy
• Better Regulation
• SME policy
• Tourism policy
• Public Procurement
• State Aid policy
• Competition policy
• Technical Harmonisation
  • Vehicles
  • European Standardisation
  • Product Regulation
  • Information procedure for technical regulations
• Economic statistics

Trade policy

• Common EU-Trade Policy (incl. investment protection, trade in services)
• Bilateral EU-Trade Agreements
• Autonomous EU-Trade Instruments
• Specific Questions of Foreign Trade Policiy (in particular: generalized system of preferences, tariff quotas and suspensions)
• Trade Defense Instruments (e.g.: antidumping, anti-subsidy)
• Market access and origin matters
• Textile trade, commodities, raw materials
• World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• Economic and trade-related aspects of the EU-relations to third countries
• Export- and Investment Promotion
• Dual-use items (dual-use regulation)

Cohesion-, Structural and Regional policy

Competition Issues

Legal Advisor for Infringement Proceedings

Telecommunications and Postal Services

*The Department is in charge of most of the issues dealt with in the council working groups telecommunication and postal services.

• Issues with a Digital policy focus within in the Trade and Technology Councils (TTC) with the USA and India
• EU-Digital partnerships
• Strategy for the Digital Internal Market
• Revision of the Postal Services Directive

Company Law

• Intellectual and industrial property rights
• Corporate and Accounting Law
• Law against unfair competition
• Insurance Law

Energy Policy

• General Issues of Energy Policy
• Energy security
• Internal Market for Energy, incl. Electricity and Gas
• Energy Networks / - infrastructures
• Renewable Energies
• Energy Efficiency
• Energy Labelling and Ecodesign
• External relations of Energy policy
• Energy Technologies
• Nuclear Policy (nuclear safety and security, radiation protection, disposal)

Media Policy

• Audiovisual media / Radio and TV
• Audiovisual Media Services Directive
• EU-Filmsector
• Media in the digital field

Cultural Policy

• EU culture working plan 2023 – 2026
• Programme AGORA
• Cultural Compass
• International Relations in the culture sector
• Culture-related Aid- and Solidarity measures for Ukraine
• Culture in the digital environment, AI

Sports Policy

• Good governance in Sport
• Initiatives and legal questions on sustainable sport
• Programme Erasmus +
• European sport model
• EU-Coordination WADA

Housing, Construction, and Urban Development Policy

The Department is headed by Till Spannagel.

Contact