Marhold and Voermans discuss legal aspects of a European war economy
On 4 April 2024, a meeting of the standing committee of the Dutch House of Representatives was held. At this meeting, Anna Marhold, Assistant Professor at the Grotius Centre and Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law, informed the committee about the economic and legal implications of a military threat in Europe.
Professor Voermans discussed the national legal aspects such as the Dutch Emergency Act. During a state of emergency, the government is able to take certain action that is usually not an option, such as deviating from provisions in the Dutch Constitution. He reflected on a theoretical situation in which the Netherlands faces a heightened military threat. The aim of the roundtable discussion was to find out how the economy can be structured as efficiently and effectively as possible and whether – and if so, how – specific production processes can be halted or transformed for the defence industry. What are the legal options? What are the limitations?
Marhold discussed the European and international legal aspects of a potential war economy. These aspects included the provision of state aid and subsidies to certain defence-related industries with a view to boosting production and inviting tenders for orders. Preference can also be given to defence equipment manufactured in the Netherlands or the EU. Any measures taken by the Netherlands, whether in an EU context or not, will have to comply with European law on the tendering process, state aid and further restricting the export of sensitive technologies. For instance, the export of ASML chip machines (to countries such as China) due to the risk that they will be used for defence purposes there.
The standing committees of the Dutch House of Representatives regularly invite experts to participate in their roundtable discussions. The committees then factor in the input from these roundtable discussions when handling legislative proposals.