EU ACI

The Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) is an EU regulation designed to deter and counter economic coercion by third countries — that is, situations where a non-EU state applies or threatens trade, investment, or other measures against the Union or a member state in order to pressure a specific policy choice.

Formally Regulation (EU) 2023/2675, it was proposed by the European Commission in December 2021, agreed in trilogue in March 2023, and entered into force on 27 December 2023. Its political origins lie in episodes such as China's informal trade restrictions on Lithuania after Vilnius permitted Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name in 2021, and broader concerns about U.S. extraterritorial sanctions and Russian energy leverage.

The instrument follows a sequenced procedure:

• The Commission examines whether a third-country measure qualifies as economic coercion.
• The Council then determines, by qualified majority, that coercion exists.
• The EU first seeks dialogue, mediation, or withdrawal of the coercive measure.
• If those fail, the Commission may adopt response measures — including tariffs, import/export restrictions, limits on services or public procurement, restrictions on intellectual property rights, and curbs on foreign direct investment or access to EU financial markets.

The ACI is framed as a deterrent: its drafters emphasise that the goal is to discourage coercion in the first place rather than to retaliate. It complements other autonomous EU trade-defence tools such as the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the International Procurement Instrument, and the Enforcement Regulation.

Critics question whether qualified-majority voting will produce timely decisions, whether the EU will use the tool against close partners, and whether unilateral countermeasures sit comfortably with WTO obligations. Supporters argue it gives Brussels long-missing leverage in an era of "geoeconomics," aligning the EU with concepts of open strategic autonomy championed by the von der Leyen Commission.