The executive body of the European Union (EU) laid out a new emergency tool to secure supply chains in times of crisis that would give it sweeping new powers to block member countries from adopting restrictions to the free movement of crisis-relevant goods or force businesses to break contracts and stockpile key products.

Details of the plan—called the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI)—were unveiled on Sept. 19 by the European Commission (EC), which would be granted the power to declare an emergency and trigger a range of market interventions.

The draft measure comes in response to what the EC said were "structural shortcomings" in the way the EU single market operates that were exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and that hampered the EU's ability to respond effectively to crises.

"We need new tools that allow us to react fast and collectively," said Margrethe Vestager, the EC's executive vice president, in a statement.

"The COVID-19 crisis made it clear: we must make our Single Market operational at all times, including in times of crisis. We must make it stronger," she said.

While responding to questions as to whether the new measures represent a "planned economy," Vestager insisted it's "exactly the opposite, because they ensure a functioning market."