The Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act (IMERA) establishes a framework for anticipating, preparing for and responding to crises affecting the EU internal market. It aims to safeguard the free movement of goods, services and persons, ensure availability of critical goods and services, and prevent obstacles to the proper functioning of the internal market during emergencies.The Act creates a three-tier structure:
- A contingency planning phase focused on preparedness and resilience
- An internal market vigilance mode for addressing potential crisis threats
- An internal market emergency mode for responding to actual crises severely disrupting the internal market
Key provisions include:
- Establishment of an Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Board to coordinate crisis response
- Requirements for Member States to designate central liaison offices and single points of contact
- Measures to facilitate free movement and prevent unjustified restrictions during emergencies
- Powers for the Commission to request information from economic operators and issue priority-rated requests for production of critical goods
- Framework for joint procurement of critical goods and services by the Commission and Member States
- Rules on transparency, data protection and confidentiality
- Development of digital tools to support crisis response
The Act excludes certain sectors like medical products, semiconductors, energy, financial services and defense from its scope. It will apply from May 29, 2026 and includes regular evaluation and reporting requirements to assess its effectiveness.
