Priority-rated requests should consist of requests by the Commission, upon an initiative of a Member State, to relevant economic operators established in the Union to accept or to prioritise orders of crisis-relevant products. As an instrument of last resort to ensure that defence supply chains can continue to operate in a time of supply crisis, and only to be used when necessary and proportionate for that purpose, those priority-rated requests should be aimed at supporting a Member State which faces severe difficulties either in the placing of an order or in the execution of a contract for the supply of crisis-relevant products. Economic operators should have the possibility to refuse to be subject to a priority-rated request. When issuing a priority-rated request, the Commission should take into account the possible negative impact on competition in the internal market and the risk of exacerbating market distortions. Furthermore, the choice of the recipients and beneficiaries of the priority-rated requests should not be discriminatory.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
