The European Commission has launched a data call to understand the main obstacles that companies in the European Union face when diversifying their supply chains and to gather information in preparation for a future package of measures aimed at reducing dependencies in sectors considered critical.
The consultation will remain open for four weeks through the European Commission's 'Tell Us What You Think' portal and is aimed at stakeholders who want to provide information about existing risks, difficulties in accessing alternative suppliers, and tools that could be used to facilitate a faster diversification of supplies.
The initiative falls within the European Commission's priorities for the period 2024-2029, which include competitiveness, economic security, and reducing certain external dependencies. Brussels is analyzing during this mandate the risks associated with situations in which sectors of the European economy depend on a limited number of suppliers, products, or foreign markets.
The Commission considers that these dependencies can create vulnerabilities when they affect goods, services, technologies, or raw materials necessary for economic activities deemed strategic. The European strategy for economic security precisely identifies the resilience of supply chains as one of the areas that require monitoring against possible disruptions or restrictions in international trade.
The process now opened will allow companies, sector organizations, and other stakeholders to provide information on the points where they detect the greatest risks and on the circumstances that hinder the search for supply alternatives.
Brussels also seeks opinions on how to achieve a faster and more systematic diversification and on what instruments, both existing and newly created, could be used to develop this agenda. The Commission has not yet specified at this stage the measures that will be part of the future package, as the call aims precisely to gather data before defining possible actions.
The approach is integrated into the work developed by community institutions in the area of economic security. In December 2025, the Commission presented an approach focused on six areas considered to be at higher risk, including the reduction of strategic dependencies on goods and services, the protection of critical infrastructure, and the availability of technologies deemed essential.
The community strategy combines monitoring of supply chains with measures aimed at having alternative sources when concentrations that may affect supply are detected. Brussels also considers cooperation with third countries as one of the ways to diversify certain supplies.
An example of this approach can be found in critical raw materials. The Commission launched the RESourceEU plan in December 2025, aimed at reducing dependencies related to materials used by sectors such as automotive, industry, defense, aerospace, semiconductors for artificial intelligence, and data centers. Among its lines of action is the search for alternative suppliers and cooperation with countries that have these resources.
The diversification of supply chains also appears in the community competitiveness policy. The Commission has noted that the EU has a network of trade agreements and partnerships with third countries that can be used to expand sources of certain products, raw materials, energy, and technologies.
The new consultation process has a broader scope and seeks to collect information directly from economic operators about the difficulties they face in modifying their supply chains. Among the issues that Brussels wants to analyze is where the main risks are concentrated and what conditions may limit the incorporation of new suppliers.
The Commission aims to use the contributions received to prepare its diversification package, the declared purpose of which will be to accelerate the reduction of certain existing dependencies and to prevent the emergence of new vulnerabilities in critical sectors.
The debate on a specific diversification instrument had already been raised by the European Commission in 2026 within its work on economic security and supply chains. The future package thus adds to other community initiatives that address issues related to raw materials, industrial capacity, critical technologies, and protection against interruptions of certain supplies.
The call is open to all stakeholders. In addition to contributions received through the public procedure, the Commission has indicated that it will continue to maintain contacts with actors related to the initiative, including representatives from the industry.
Contributions may be submitted during the four weeks of the process through the European Commission's public consultation platform. The collected content will form part of the preparatory work for the diversification package before Brussels specifies the tools it will propose for supply chains and affected sectors.
